Entertainment Stocks Pop Amid Stronger U.S. Economic Growth

NY - Big entertainment stocks opened with a nice pop Thursday as U.S. stock markets rose following a European debt deal for Greece and news that the U.S. economy grew at its strongest pace in a year during the third quarter. Gross domestic product in the U.S. expanded at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 2.5 percent, up from 1.3 percent in the second and 0.4 percent in the first quarter. Investors seemed to take the growth trajectory as good news amid recent concerns that the U.S. economy could fall back into recession. With a stronger economy potentially allowing companies to continue spending on advertising, entertainment industry conglomerate share rose in early Thursday trading, in many cases outperforming the broad-based S&P 500 stock index. As of 10am ET, the index was up 2.2 percent. At the same time, CBS Corp.'s stock was up 4.7 percent, News Corp. shares trended 3.9 percent higher, and Viacom was also up 3.9 percent. Walt Disney gained 2.4 percent, roughly in line with the S&P 500, while Time Warner shares rose 1.9 percent. Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai Related Topics Time Warner CBS Corporation