Standard & Poor's 500 index closes at a record high; Hewlett-Packard gains on better results

8/21/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Financial-Markets-Wall-Street-20

    Trader Edward McCarthy, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. U.S. stocks are opening higher, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index closer toward another record high. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • NEW YORK — Another round of buying on the stock market is sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to its latest record high.

    Traders were encouraged by earnings gains and a decline last week in the number of people applying for unemployment benefits.

    The S&P 500 rose five points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,992 today. That’s four points above the record close it reached July 24.

    The Dow Jones industrial average gained 60 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,039. The Nasdaq composite edged up five points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,532.

    Hewlett-Packard rose 5 percent after the company reported its first sales increase in nearly three years. Sears fell 7 percent after reporting a wider loss.

    Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.40 percent.