国际英语新闻：U.S. stocks refresh 2-year highs on more recovery signs

NEW YORK, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday to fresh two-year highs as new economic data showed more recovery signs.

The Commerce Department released its final reading of GDP growth before the opening bell, which showed the U.S. economy recovered at a modestly faster pace in the third quarter. However, the 2.6-percent revision, which was higher than the 2.5-percent estimate last month, fell short of market expectation.

A separate report showed the most-battered housing sector continued its slow recovery. The National Association of Realtors said that sales of previously-occupied homes rose 5.6 percent to 4. 68 million units in November.

The financial and conglomerates sectors gained the most, both up 0.70 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 26.33 points, or 0.23 percent, to 11,559.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 4.24 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,258.84 and the Nasdaq rose 3.87 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,671.48.