NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, boosted by a strong reading on quarterly economic growth and by another round of upbeat earnings reports including Visa, which rose 10 percent and accounted for more than 140 points in the Dow industrials.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 221.24 points, or 1.3 percent, to 17,195.55, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 12.33 points, or 0.62 percent, to 1,994.63 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 16.91 points, or 0.37 percent, to 4,566.14.
Healthcare <.SPXHC> and utilities <.SPLRCU>, both up nearly 20 percent year-to-date, led gains on the S&P 500.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
