US STOCKS-Wall St gains on GDP growth, halts 4-day slide

* GDP turns positive in Q3, buoys recovery hopes

* P&G and Colgate beat profits views, Exxon misses

* Dow up 2 pct; S&P 500 up 2.1 pct; Nasdaq up 1.9 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to midafternoon, changes byline)

By Ellis Mnyandu

NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, helping the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq halt a four-day rout, as data showing that the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter buoyed hopes of a recovery in profits.

Quarterly profits at consumer product companies Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) and Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL.N) both surpassed expectations, adding to the positive sentiment.

Shares of Dow component P&G, which also raised its full-year revenue outlook, gained 3.8 percent to $59.44, while Colgate shares rose 1.8 percent to $79.07. The S&P consumer staples index .GSPS gained 1.3 percent. For details, see [ID:nN29351606]

The government's first estimate of U.S. gross domestic product showed the economy expanded at a 3.5 percent annual rate, suggesting it was emerging from the worst recession in 70 years. The positive quarter was the first after more than a year of contraction by the GDP.

Economists in a Reuters poll last week expected a 3.3 percent gain, although some recent data led many to trim forecasts this week.

"We are in the early stages of a recovery process," said Les Satlow, portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts. "It's a very good thing that GDP is growing quarter-on-quarter, but if this is a V-shaped recovery we are still well below the top left of the V."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 191.05 points, or 1.96 percent, to 9,953.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 22.25 points, or 2.13 percent, to 1,064.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC shot up 38.75 points, or 1.88 percent, to 2,098.36.

The data provided fuel for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes to reverse four days of losses. The S&P 500 is up 57.1 percent from its 12-year closing low of March 9. It has shed 3.2 percent from its post-March peak of Oct. 19.

Weakness in the U.S. dollar also underpinned stocks as the appetite for risk resurfaced.

Gains were widespread, with big manufacturers, technology, financials and the materials sectors all benefiting.

Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), whose products include bulldozers and excavators, rose 4.1 percent to $56.62, as shares of planemaker Boeing Co (BA.N) advanced 3.2 percent to $48.75.

iPhone maker Apple Inc (AAPL.O) rose 1.4 percent to $195.05 on Nasdaq, where Symantec Corp (SYMC.O) jumped 11.2 percent to $17.49, a day after the business software maker posted a quarterly profit that eclipsed Wall Street's forecasts.

Several brokerages raised price targets on Symantec.

Among financials, JPMorgan (JPM.N) added 3.1 percent to $43.99.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) bucked the positive trend, however, falling 0.6 percent to $73.39, after the energy company third-quarter profit missed expectations. [ID:nN29353497]

But other companies reported results above Wall Street's forecasts, including Kellogg Co (K.N), Tenneco Inc (TEN.N), Motorola Inc MOT.N and Aetna Inc (AET.N).

Also on Thursday, data from the Labor Department showed that the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, though not by as much as expected. [ID:nN29353570] (Editing by Kenneth Barry)