Late stumble leaves S&P short of record

U.S. stock indexes closed mostly higher Thursday after a late stumble pulled the S&P 500 just short of its third straight all-time high.

The benchmark index slipped 0.1percent after spendingmuch of the day higher. It’s on track for its second weekly gain as Wall Street continues to coast following its rocket ride lastmonth powered by hopes for coming COVID-19 vaccines. The Nasdaq composite set a record high for the second straight day. Treasury yields mostly declined, a reversal from earlier in the week.

A couple reports on the economy thatwere better than expected helped support stocks. One showed that growth in the U.S. services sector, including health care and retail, was slightly stronger last month than economists expected. Aseparate report said fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than forecast, though economists cautioned the number may have been distorted by the Thanksgiving holiday.

Investors have also been encouraged this week by signs that Democrats and Republicans in Washington may get past their bitter partisanship to reach a deal to providemore financial support for the economy.

“Investors are sort of keeping their fingers crossed that we come up with a stimulus package, no matter the size,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.

The S&P 500 slipped 2.29 points to 3,666.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 85.73 points, or 0.3 percent, to 29,969.52. The Nasdaq composite added 27.82 points, or0.2 percent, to 12,377.18. Small company stocks made out better than the broader market. The Russell 2000 index picked up 10.67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,848.70.

Momentum across markets has slowed after the S&P 500 surged 10.8 percent last month on hopes that one or more coronavirus vaccines will get the global economy closer to normal next year. The burst of optimism boosted stocks of travel companies, banks and smaller businesses in particular, after they were among the most harshly punished during the pandemic.

Nowthat stock indexes are back at all-time highs, worries about the still-raging pandemic are making further big gains more difficult.

Across the country, the Labor Department said 712,000 workers applied for jobless benefits last week. That’s an improvement from the 787,000 of the prior week.

Ralph Lauren led the gainers in the S&P 500 Thursday, vaulting 8.7 percent. Several travel-related companies also finished near the top of the leaderboard, clawing back more of their precipitous losses. American Airlines rose 8.3 percent, Norwegian Cruise line gained 8.6, and United climbed 6.8 percent. All three, though, remain more than 40 percent lower for 2020.