Stocks meander higher, scoring record highs for S&P 500, Dow

A wobbly day of trading on Wall Street ended with most stock indexes managing slight gains, enough for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to score all-time highs.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% after having been down 0.2% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.1%. All three indexes started the day slightly in the green.

The benchmark S&P 500 index, which also set a record highs Monday and last Thursday, has now posted 70 record highs for the year. In the post-world War II era, that’s the most new highs for the index since the 77 it set in 1954. The Dow last set a record high in early November. The major U.S. stock indexes are on pace to close out this year with strong gains.