Financial Markets                      12/23 09:32

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are holding near their record levels and Treasury 
yields are rising in the bond market Tuesday after the government reported that 
the U.S. economy grew at a surprisingly strong pace in the third quarter.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.1% and is just below the all-time high it set earlier 
this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4 points, or less than 0.1%, 
as of 9:54 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.

   A majority of stocks with the S&P 500 were losing ground, but the market was 
being bolstered by several big technology stocks. Nvidia rose 0.5% and Google's 
parent company, Alphabet, rose 1.5%. They are among several companies with 
outsized valuations that tend to have more impact on the broader market's 
direction.

   Novo Nordisk jumped 9.7% after U.S. regulators approved a pill version of 
the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, the first daily oral medication to 
treat obesity.

   Wall Street is getting the latest economic updates during an otherwise quiet 
holiday-shortened week. Markets in the U.S. will close early Wednesday for 
Christmas Eve and remain closed for Christmas on Thursday.

   The U.S. economy grew at a 4.3% annual rate during the third quarter. That 
builds on 3.8% growth during the second quarter and marks a sharp turnaround 
from the first quarter, when the U.S. economy shrank for the first time in 
three years.

   The latest report also showed that stubborn inflation continues to hover 
over the economy. The Fed's favored inflation gauge -- called the personal 
consumption expenditures index, or PCE -- climbed to a 2.8% annual pace last 
quarter, up from 2.1% in the second quarter.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.20% from 4.15% just before the 
report on gross domestic product for the third quarter was released. The yield 
on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for Federal 
Reserve actions, rose to 3.56% from 3.49% just prior to the report's release.

   Markets were mixed in Asia and Europe.

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   Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

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