Stocks stepped up today on Wall Street. Brands such as Citigroup, Bank of America, Boeing and Microsoft posted gains. Stocks flourished amid a weaker-than-expected GDP report. In its third estimate on first-quarter gross domestic product, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said real GDP grew by 1.8 percent. Down from its previous estimate of an annualized rate of 2.4 percent, economists were expecting the estimate to remain the same. Meanwhile, personal consumption was downwardly revised by 0.8 percentage points to 2.6 percent. In ratings moves, Adobe Systems traded higher following a Jefferies & Co. upgrade on the stock to “buy” from “hold.” Microsoft moved up after Morgan Stanley boosted its rating to “overweight” and increased its price target on the software titan to $40.
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