Wall Street ended moderately higher Wednesday, after orders for durable goods topped estimates in November.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday that durable goods orders fell 1 percent in November, much better than a 3 percent decline economists had expected.

The Commerce Department also posted consumer spending dropped 0. 6 percent in November. The drop was slightly less than analysts had expected.

On the negative side, the U.S. Labor Department said the initial applications for unemployment benefits increased to 586, 000 last week, much more than the expected 560,000.

Airline shares rose and boosted the big board, as oil briefly slid below US$37 a barrel. Financials and retailer stocks also reversed four-day decline and moved higher.

The Dow Jones rose 48.99, or 0.58 percent, to 8,468.48. Broader indexes also moved higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4. 99, or 0.58 percent, to 868.15 and the Nasdaq climbed 3.36, or 0. 22 percent, to 1,524.90.

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2008)