US stock indexes inch above record highs in quiet trading

Stocks edged higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in health care and communication companies outweighed a pullback in technology and other sectors.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.1% as of 3:19 p.m. Eastern, a day after notching its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which also set a record high Wednesday, was up 0.1%, while the Nasdaq was up 0.3%. Trading was relatively quiet with many investors having closed out their positions for the year.

Health care and communication services stocks accounted for a big share of the gains. Pfizer gained 1% and Twitter climbed 4.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500.

Companies that rely on consumer spending also rose also helped lift the market. Target rose 2.5%.

Technology and energy stocks, among the best-performing sectors in 2021, fell. Advanced Micro Devices slid 1.3% and oil and natural gas company APA Corp. fell 2.7%.

Most of Wall Street is on vacation or has closed their positions for 2021, which means trading is extremely light. Investors will likely not make any large moves until next week with the start of the New Year.

Investors got a couple bits of good news to close out the year. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell below 200,000, more evidence that the job market remains strong in the aftermath of last year’s coronavirus recession. Wall Street will get the December jobs report next week.

Meanwhile the Chicago Purchasing Manager Index, a gauge of manufacturing and economic activity, came in at 63.1 for December. That's slightly better than the reading of 62.0 that economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

The major stock indexes are on pace to end December with solid gains, capping a banner year for the market. The S&P 500 is...