Better GDP report sends stocks slightly higher

Stocks are edging higher in early trading on Wall Street after the government reported a slight pickup in U.S. economic growth.

The gains were held in check by poor earnings reports from Goodyear Tire & Rubber and the lumber and real estate company Weyerhauser.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 20 points at 13,123 shortly after the opening bell Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up three at 1,416 and the Nasdaq composite rose 11 to 2,997.

The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy expanded at a 2 percent annual rate from July through September. In addition to stronger consumer spending, a critical piece of the nation's economic recovery, government spending also added to growth.

Economists had predicted more modest growth of 1.8 percent.

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