Stocks Opened Higher after GDP Data

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday after the report showed that U.S. GDP grew 4.6% in second quarter 2014. The Dow Jones industrial average lately rose 52.85 points, or 0.31%, to 16,998.65. The S&P 500 gained 1.74 points, or 0.09%, to 1,967.73. The Nasdaq Composite added 10.24 points, or 0.23%, to 4,476.98.

The U.S. economy in second quarter matched its best performance since the recession. Gross domestic product grew at a real 4.6% annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. That’s up from a prior reading of 4.2% and an initial estimate of 4.0%.

BlackBerry Ltd.’s second-quarter financial results topped analyst expectations Friday. For the quarter ended Aug. 30, the net loss was $207 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with a loss of $965 million, or $1.84 a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding non-recurring items, the adjusted per-share loss was 2 cents, beating the FactSet consensus analyst loss estimate of 15 cents. Revenue fell to $916 million from last year’s $1.57 billion, missing analyst forecasts of $951 million.

Pimco’s Bill Gross is leaving the investment company he founded to join Janus Capital, Janus said in a statement Friday. Gross will manage the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund.

BlueCrest Capital Management LLP, one of Europe’s largest hedge-fund firms, laid off several stock traders in the U.S. Thursday and began liquidating their investments, according to people familiar with the matter, not long after it aggressively expanded into equities.