US stocks edge higher as corporate earnings wind down; Dow average reaches another record

5/9/2014

NEW YORK — Stocks are closing slightly higher, enough to send the Dow Jones industrial average to another all-time high.

A day of back-and-forth trading left U.S. indexes with modest gains. The Dow rose 32 points, or 0.2 percent, to end at 16,583 today. That’s about three points above the latest record high it reached on April 30.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose two points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,878. The Nasdaq composite ended 20 points higher, or 0.5 percent, at 4,071.

First-quarter earnings reports for U.S. companies are winding down.

Symantec rose 3 percent after the security software maker said cost cuts helped boost its profit margins.

Ralph Lauren fell 2 percent after its revenue forecast disappointed investors.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.62 percent.