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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks, bucking a trend of late-day selloffs, ended higher on Thursday as economic bellwether FedEx offered a bullish profit outlook that augured well for broad growth.

Stocks that performed well in 2010 were among Thursday's biggest gainers as investors sought to boost returns by the year's end. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by more than two to one on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

Package shipper FedEx Corp (FDX.N) raised its full-year outlook, though its quarterly profit and revenue missed expectations. Shares rose 2 percent to $94.22 while larger rival United Parcel Services (UPS.N) gained 2.1 percent to $73.76 and the Dow Jones Transportation Average (.DJT) gained 1.3 percent.

"The fact that FedEx missed its earnings is overshadowed by its very strong outlook, which is a good indicator that we're looking for good economic times ahead," said Kimberly Foss, president at the Sacramento, California-based Empyrion Wealth Management, which has more than $200 million in assets under management.

Visa Inc (V.N) and MasterCard Inc (MA.N) tumbled on heavy volume after the Federal Reserve issued a proposal that would force banks and card networks to slash the fees they charge retailers on debit cards. Visa sank 13 percent to $67.19 while MasterCard slumped 10 percent to $223.49.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 41.78 points, or 0.36 percent, at 11,499.25. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 7.64 points, or 0.62 percent, at 1,242.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 20.09 points, or 0.77 percent, at 2,637.31.

Stocks gained momentum after a slow start to the day, with big gainers for the year boosting the Nasdaq.

Intuit Inc (INTU.O), known for its tax-filing software, gained 3 percent to $49.35 after rising about 60 percent for the year.

Some shares raised hopes consumers will be less frugal over the holiday shopping season. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) rose 1.4 percent to $178.10 and its stock was up 32 percent for the year.

After the closing bell, Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) reported a surge in new software sales in its second quarter, lifting its shares 3.2 percent to $31.24.

Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) rose 2.3 percent to $32.59 after Goldman Sachs gave the coffee chain a "conviction buy" rating with a $44 price target.

Economic data added to the positive mood. Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly rose in December, while jobless claims dipped for a second week. November housing starts rose, but permits for future home construction dropped to a 1-1/2 year low.

U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion (RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) rose 1.8 percent to $60.28 after it reported its third-quarter results after the close.

"While we expect the market to continue growing, the slower growth we expect is going to be good for those companies that execute well, but challenging for the ones that have been struggling," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments in Richmond, Virginia.

About 7.54 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, well below the year's daily average of 8.62 billion.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Sector of Great Britain, which included banks, insurers, hotels services and hair salons, grew in October at a modest pace. Photo: ALAMY

Global business activity index increased 53.2 month 52.8 in September last, reading higher since June and confounding predictions for a dip at 52.5.

Improvement was led by an increase in new business while expectations index fell to a full point and the employment index slipped back below 50 level separating expansion contraction as companies braced for upcoming harsh.

"Production and new orders, rates of expansion measures remain mild compared to long-term averages as companies continue to digest the true effects on the overall economy expenditure Review Government coalition," said Paul Smith, Senior Economist at Markit.

"The most recent data suggest that the sector is set to make a contribution of below GDP in the coming months."

Nevertheless, BoE decision makers are also likely to be affected by news more in addition to inflationary pressures in the service sector with companies ramping up their prices at the fastest pace in response to the increase in energy costs and salaries for two years.

PMIs Wednesday, which covers companies which composed of 40pc of GDP, came after an investigation unexpectedly robust manufacturing and data surprisingly low construction PMI activity this week.

Overall, the figures indicate economy Britain made a solid start for the last quarter of this year.

However, the investigation has also shown that firms remained cautious about the Outlook and want to see how the 83bn ￡ spending cuts made by the Government last month will affect people's spending decisions.

"A number of respondents reported the postponement of customer spending, reflecting continued uncertainty on the impact of spending reductions on the economy of the Government," said Markit.

"These new concerns dominate expectations of service providers, with business confidence remains historically sifted.

The business expectations index fell a complete point of 66.2 in September.

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According to a public poll Citi and YouGov, expectations of inflation in the year to come currently stand at 3pc, compared to 2 9pc in September.

"Expectations of inflation for the year to come step are higher since September 2008," Citi economist Michael Saunders said .the ' inflation was then running at 5 2pc - a maximum of 16 years, compared with currently 3 1pc.

Policymakers are concerned that rising inflation expectations could become self-fulfilling work through price and wage settlements. Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England has already warned: "If this occurs, it would be expensive to bring down inflation.

Interest rates would increase, potentially crippling recovery based on a loose monetary policy offsetting expenditure cuts and tax increases.Most economists expect interest rates to remain low at least until the second half of next year, and many believe that the Bank will restart quantitative easing with an additional $ 50 billion ￡.

"The increase in [...] long-term inflation expectations."could well reflect actual inflation data, although UK inflation above target and well above forecasts [Bank]," said Mr. Saunders.

To date, however, it is little evidence that higher inflation expectations are becoming intégrées.La most pay transactions worth between 2pc, 3pc and these last months, lower than the rate of inflation, according to a study of income Data Services published today.

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