Wall St inches up after upbeat U.S. data, Intel forecast

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks up slightly in late afternoon trading on Thursday as data showed further strength in the U.S. economy and Intel gave an upbeat forecast.

Tech shares helped to lead the day's gains after Intel's revenue outlook for 2015 was above Wall Street's expectations and the company also raised its dividend. Intel shares climbed 3.8 percent to $35.65, giving a boost to all three major indexes.

News that a traveler from Mali was undergoing a test for possible Ebola at New York City's Bellevue Hospital briefly revived worries about the spread of the disease in the United States.

Earlier in the day, data showed factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region grew at its fastest pace in two decades, U.S. home resales jumped to their highest in more than a year in October, and a gauge of future U.S. economic activity gained.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.84 points, or 0.08 percent, to 17,700.57, the S&P 500 gained 2.03 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,050.75 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.12 points, or 0.43 percent, to 4,695.83.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,890 to 1,128, for a 1.68-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,740 issues rose and 983 fell for a 1.77-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 was posting 44 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 54 new highs and 50 new low.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)