The three major U.S. New York stock indexes are posting gains in early trading.
As of 9:45 a.m. on the 22nd (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 415.63 points, or 0.85%, at 49,492.86. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 42.37 points, or 0.62%, to 6,918.99, and the Nasdaq composite added 203.23 points, or 0.88%, to 23,428.05.
Analysts said the stronger-than-expected growth of the U.S. economy last year influenced the stock gains.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said on the 22nd that the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the third quarter of last year was tallied at 4.4% (quarter-over-quarter, annualized). This is the highest quarterly growth rate in two years since the third quarter of 2023 (4.7%) and was revised up 0.1 percentage point from the figure released last month (4.3%). It also beat the 4.3% expert forecast compiled by Dow Jones.
Also helping was U.S. President Donald Trump's statement the previous day that he would not only refrain from using force in Greenland but would withdraw plans to impose tariffs on eight European countries that oppose the annexation of Greenland.
Attending the Davos forum in Switzerland, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that "based on a very productive meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, we have created a framework for a future agreement on Greenland and virtually the entire Arctic region." He added, "When this is completed, it will be a major solution for the United States and all NATO countries," and said, "We will not impose the tariffs that were scheduled to take effect on Feb. 1."