U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday afternoon as data showed further strength in the U.S. economy and Intel gave an upbeat forecast.

Tech shares helped to lead the day's gains after Intel's revenue outlook for 2015 was above Wall Street's expectations and the company also raised its dividend. Intel shares climbed 3.8 percent to $35.65, giving a boost to all three major indexes.

Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region grew at its fastest pace in two decades, U.S. home resales jumped to their highest in more than a year in October, and a gauge of future U.S. economic activity gained.

Growth in the economy and earnings should bode well for stocks heading into next year, said Margaret Patel, senior portfolio manager at Wells Capital Management.

"Next year will be a reasonable to maybe a surprisingly good year," she said. "(There is) no reason in the world why we can't see P/Es expand." Patel, who spoke at Reuters Global Investment Outlook Summit Thursday, said stocks could rise by a mid single-digit to high-teens percentage next year.

At 2:07 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 16.57 points, or 0.09 percent, to 17,702.3, the S&P 500 gained 3.07 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,051.79 and the Nasdaq Composite added 23.72 points, or 0.51 percent, to 4,699.44.

GoPro shares fell 6.8 percent to $73.70 after a follow-on offering priced at $75 per share, a discount to Wednesday's close.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,993 to 1,022, for a 1.95-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,732 issues rose and 932 fell for a 1.86-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 44 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 52 new highs and 48 new lows.