Washington (dpa) - Wall Street rallied Thursday as strong exports fueled a sharp upward revision in the government's estimated of second-quarter economic growth.

The broad rally saw five listings gaining value for every stock that lost on the New York Stock Exchange. Nine of the 10 industry groups within the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose in Thursday trading.

The Commerce Department, revising its initial estimate of 1.9 per cent, announced Thursday that the US gross domestic product expanded in the April-June period at an annualized rate of 3.3 per cent.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks slumped nearly 2.3 per cent Thursday as pessimism gripped the market amid concerns over the earnings outlook of some big companies.

The Hang Seng Index lost 492.43 points to end the day at 20,972.29 points, down 2.29 per cent on Wednesday's close. Turnover was a relatively light 66.7 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The fall in prices comes after a strong week and was led by heavyweight stocks Esprit Holdings, PetroChina and China Mobile which disappointed investors with their earnings.

Tokyo - Japanese shares were slightly higher Thursday following gains on Wall Street overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 7.04 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 12,760.00.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 3.28 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 1,220.41.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.40-45 yen, up from Wednesday's 5 pm quote of 109.01-02 yen.

Washington - Major US stock indices gained on Wednesday after a better-than-expected report on monthly durable goods orders, while mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sold off some of their outstanding debt.

The Commerce Department reported a 1.3-per-cent gain in durable goods orders in July. Economists had forecast an unchanged measurement for the month, according to Bloomberg financial news service.

Alpbach, A

The Sensex continued to trade in the negative terrain due to heavy selling action witnessed in realty, banking and power stocks, while IT, metal and auto stocks went up.

Today, the 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened negatively at 14,563.10, down 80.88 points.

BSE Midcap fell 0.06%, whereas Smallcap surged 0.03%.

At 12.59 p.m., the 30-share index Sensex stood at 14,427.07, down 55.15 points, after touching a high of 14,563.10 and a low of 14,397.27.

In contrast, the broad based Nifty lost 3.95 points at 4,333.55, after hitting a high of 4,364.25 and a low of 4,315.55.