NEW YORK - The Standard & Poor's 500 set its second record high this week, but most stocks rose only modestly today as the market turned cautious after surging higher earlier in the week. Dow up 8.96
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 8.96 points to 8,944.54 after giving back most of an early 56-
point gain. It was the fourth gain in a row for the Dow, but the second straight session in which the blue-chip index retreated into the close, barely finishing higher.
The Dow finished the week 231 points higher. The Dow is about 267 points shy of May 13's record of 9,211.84, but still holds an impressive midyear gain of more than 1,000 points, or 13.1 percent.
Advancers beat decliners by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,615 up, 1,355 down and 561 unchanged. NYSE volume was 515.15 million shares, down sharply from yesterday's 657.50 million.
Broad-market indicators were mixed, with advancing issues outnumbering decliners by only a narrow margin overall.
The S&P 500 rose 3.92 to 1,133.20, bringing this year's gain to nearly 16.8 percent and topping Wednesday's all-time high of 1,132.89, which was the measure's first closing record in two months.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 6.28 to 1,869.53, a gain of 19 percent for the year. The NYSE composite ended 1.39 higher at 577.53; the American Stock Exchange composite rose 3.91 to 717.87; the Russell 2000 index rose 0.11 to 450.27.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up 9/32 point, or $2.81 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.63 percent from 5.65 percent late yesterday.