Safe-play stocks lead Wall Street to latest record highs, even as Cisco drags tech lower

11/14/2013

NEW YORK — The stock market is closing at another record high, but the gains were driven mostly by stocks that investors buy when they want to avoid risk.

The biggest gainers were safe-play stocks like power companies, banks, and health care companies, a sign that investors are becoming more cautious.

Technology companies were dragged lower after network equipment maker Cisco Systems predicted a sharp drop in sales.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 54 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,876 today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose eight points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,790 points. Both set records for the second day in a row.

The Nasdaq composite rose less than other indexes because of the slump in tech stocks, gaining just seven points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,972.