S&P 500 index closes at a five-year high

S&P 500 closes at the highest point since December 2007, before the financial crisis

1/4/2013

NEW YORK — The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at its highest level in five years today as the stock market extended a New Year's rally.

The S&P 500 closed at 1,466, the highest since Dec. 31, 2007, before the financial crisis.

That's a gain of seven points on the day. The index is up 4.6 percent over the past week after lawmakers passed a last-minute budget agreement that avoided a set of drastic tax increases and government spending cuts.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 43 points at 13,435. The Nasdaq rose just one point to end at 3,101, held back by a decline in Apple.

Three stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was higher than average at 3.4 billion shares.