Stocks move modestly higher after GDP report (AP)

NEW YORK – Stocks advanced modestly Friday after the government said the economy wasn't as troubled in late 2008 as many investors feared.

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The Commerce Department said the gross domestic product, the widely followed measure of the economy, shrank at a 3.8 percent pace in the final three months of the year . That compared with a 0.5 percent decline in the previous quarter. Friday's reading was much better than the 5.4 percent drop economists expected. Still, the figure could be revised lower in the months ahead — and some analysts believe the economy has been contracting in early 2009 at an even faster pace.

Full Story: Stocks move modestly higher after GDP report (AP)