Major Indexes Close in on Big Weekly Gains

A surprisingly rosy reading on economic growth and a strong Treasury sale left Wall Street headed toward its fourth day of gains in the last three sessions. Absent a major selloff Friday stocks will post their third straight week of increases.

Stocks were higher Thursday, as traders cheered a revision to the gross domestic product that fell in line with a larger trend of slowly improving economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 174 points at 7924. The Nasdaq rose 58 to 1587 and the S&P 500 climbed 18 to 832.

Techs and capital performed particularly well. A rally in metals lifted the miners. Automakers also advanced, despite a weak March sales preview from J.D. Power and Associates. Financials, however, struggled to participate in the rebound.

Another day in the black would go a long toward validating the market's recent optimism. Stocks have risen sharply this week, largely on the Obama administration's promise to loosen the credit markets by vastly expanding the holdings of the Federal Reserve with asset-backed securities and bonds.

The announcement sent mortgage rates plummeting. On Thursday, they struck a 52-year low of 5.19%, down from 5.29% last week.

In Washington, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner began unveiling more details of his plan to expand regulation of the financial industry before the House Financial Services committee. He said the major components of the plan would cover four areas: systemic risk, consumer and investor protection, eliminating gaps in our regulatory structure; and international coordination. To address systemic risk, he said, the government should establish a new entity charged with ensuring stability across the system.

In energy, crude prices leaned positive. Oil traded up $1.38 at $54.15 a barrel.

In world markets, Asia advanced after Wednesday's U.S. gains. Japan's Nikkei picked up 1.9%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 3.6%. In Europe, the FTSE stood up 0.6% in afternoon trading.