Stocks edge up in light trading; Dow sets new high

U.S. stock indexes wrung out a modest gain during another quiet session on Wall Street on Thursday, nudging the Dow Jones industrial average to a new high before the final trading day of 2017.

Financial stocks accounted for much of the market’s gains. The sector benefited from rising bond yields, which help banks by enabling them to charge higher interest rates on loans.

Some energy stocks got a boost from natural gas prices, which jumped nearly 7% as temperatures sank across much of the U.S. Crude oil prices also rose.

Consumer-goods makers lagged. .

The stock market seldom declines this time of year, said John Serrapere, director of research at Arrow Funds: “Normally between Christmas and New Year’s you get a positive, muted upslope in the markets.”

The Dow closed at a record high Thursday for the 71st time this year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite index are hovering just below their all-time highs. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks edged up Thursday to match its most recent alltime high, set early last week. All the indexes are on track to end 2017 with double-digit gains.

Bond prices fell as yields recovered partially from Wednesday’s big drop. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.43% from 2.41%.

That helped lift shares in banks and other financial companies. Northern Trust climbed 1.7% to $100.32.

The price of natural gas rose sharply — climbing 18 cents, or 6.7%, to $2.91 per 1,000 cubic feet — as an arctic blast gripped a large swath from the Midwest to the Northeast, sending temperatures plummeting.

The increase gave some energy companies a boost. Chesapeake Energy was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 index, climbing 4.1% to $4.04. Range Resources rose 3.8% to $17.61.

Netflix also contributed to the market’s gains. The video-streaming service advanced 3.5% to $192.71.

Several packaged food, beverage and other consumer-goods makers declined. Monster Beverage slid 2% to $62.92.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners tumbled 9% to $8.05 after the oil and solvents processor reported disappointing third-quarter results.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 20 cents to settle at $59.84 a barrel. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, rose 28 cents to $66.72 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline was little changed at $1.79 a gallon. Heating oil inched up a penny to $2.05 a gallon.

Gold rose $5.80 to $1,297.20 an ounce. Silver rose 17 cents, or 1%, to $16.92 an ounce. Copper rose 2 cents to $3.31 a pound.

The dollar fell to 112.87 yen from 113.26 yen. The euro rose to $1.1952 from $1.1899.