US Markets set closing highs Thursday

Stock markets climbed for a fourth consecutive trading session Thursday in New York, pushing two major indexes into record territory. The Dow Jones industrial average added 62.90 points or 0.42 percent to reach 14,865.14, establishing a new closing high. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.64 points, 0.36 percent, to hit 1,593.37, also a record close. The tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index gained 2.90 points or 0.09 percent to reach 3,300.16, still far below its all-time closing high of 5,048.62, set March 10, 2000, before the dot-com bubble burst. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,873 stocks advanced and 1,176 declined on a volume of 3.3 billion shares traded. The 10-year U.S. treasury note rose 5/32 to yield 1.794 percent. Against the dollar, the euro was higher at $1.3104 from Wednesday's $1.3071. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 99.74 yen from 99.78 yen. The dollar index, a prorated measure of the dollar against six major currencies, fell 0.29 percent to 82.26 on the International Exchange. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.96 percent, gaining 261.03 points, to 13,549.16. In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.45 percent, 28.77 points, to 6,416.14. Oil closed lower at $93.47 per barrel, off $1.10. Gold added $1.80 to $1,560.60 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the Chicago Board of Trade, old-crop corn gained 1 to 2 1/2 cents while the new crop was as much as a penny higher. May corn closed at $6.50 3/4, soybeans were u 8 1/2 to $14.01 1/4 and wheat gained 1 1/2 to $6.98 1/4.