By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday as data pointed to a strengthening U.S. economy and boosted optimism about holiday spending.
But indexes were well off their highs for the day, with gains limited by a further drop in oil prices and the threat of a midnight government shutdown.
Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 63.13 points, or 0.36 percent, to 17,596.28, the S&P 500 gained 9.2 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,035.34 and the Nasdaq Composite added 24.14 points, or 0.52 percent, to 4,708.16.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
