Stocks erase an early loss on Wall Street and end slightly higher; Dow has sixth weekly gain

8/2/2013

NEW YORK — The stock market closed slightly higher today after erasing an early loss.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 15,658. It had been down as much as 69 points.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,709. The Nasdaq rose 13, or 0.4 percent, to 3,689.

The Dow closed out its sixth straight weekly gain.

A government report that hiring slowed last month stalled the market in early trading today, but indexes recovered throughout the day.

The government reported that 162,000 jobs were created in July, fewer than economists expected and the least since March.

Rising stocks slightly outnumbered falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was lighter than average at 3.1 billion shares.