Wall St. ends higher as investors digest economic data

STORY: Wall Street's main indexes ended higher on Thursday as GDP and other data reflected a still resilient U.S. economy.

The Dow gained about a third of a percent, the S&P 500 added six-tenths of a percent and the Nasdaq gained about eight-tenths.

GDP increased at an unrevised 2.1% annualized rate last quarter, according government data… while a slight rise in jobless claims last week showed the labor market remains strong.

The Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone has loomed over stocks of late, although according to CME's FedWatch tool, most traders are betting that the benchmark rate remains unchanged through the end of the year.

But not Chris Konstantinos, Chief Investment Strategist at Riverfront Investment Group.

“We see at least one more rate hike on the horizon and we don't necessarily think that's something to be feared. We think it speaks a little bit to the resilience of the of the economy that we talked about. [FLASH] Given where we've seen the economy, given where we've seen the labor market and given where we've seen Inflation prints. I think they feel like they have license to potentially hike one more time.”

In company news, shares of Micron Technology dropped nearly four-and-a-half percent after the chip company forecast a bigger loss than analysts had expected.

And Accenture shares slumped more than 4% after the IT services firm forecast full-year earnings and first-quarter revenue below Wall Street targets.

Investors now have their eyes on Washington to see whether lawmakers can avert a government shutdown. And key inflation data comes Friday with the personal consumption expenditures price index.