Stocks gain for fifth day on unemployment report

By STEVE ROTHWELL

| The Associated Press

First Published Mar 07 2013 08:42 am • Last Updated Mar 07 2013 02:13 pm

NEW YORK • Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street for a fifth straight day, pushing the Dow further into record territory.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which surpassed its previous all-time high two days ago, closed up 33 points at 14,329.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose nearly three points to 1,544. The S&P is now about 20 points away from its own record high close.

The Nasdaq rose nine points to 3,232. The Dow and S&P gained 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq 0.3 percent.

The catalyst for the advance was the latest evidence that hiring is picking up: a decline in unemployment applications.

Kroger rose 3 percent after reporting strong earnings.

Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.