Stocks shake off an afternoon stumble to end modestly higher

The stock market recovered from an afternoon stumble Thursday and ended with some modest gains, enough to mark more record highs for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite.

Trading remains quiet as the summer holiday season comes to a close and Wall Street heads into a three-day holiday weekend. Activity is expected to pick up next week once traders are back from vacation. Typically September is one of the market’s more volatile months.

The S&P 500 rose 12.86 points, or 0.3%, to 4,536.95, topping a record set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 131.29 points, or 0.4%, to 35,443.82. The Nasdaq rose 21.80, or 0.1%, to 15,331.18, also setting a record.

Small-company stocks fared better than the rest of the market in a sign that investors are feeling encouraged about the prospects for the economy. The Russell 2000 index rose 16.96 points, or 0.7%, to 2,304.02.