US stocks finish higher

Stocks rose slightly today with the Dow Jones industrial average briefly touching a new intraday trading high after the UN Security Council condemned North Korea over its claim of an underground nuclear test.

Wall Street had opened the session lower after North Korea announced it had set off an atomic weapon underground. Reports that OPEC was near announcing its first output cut in two years sent oil prices higher. But stock prices turned mixed by midday and were higher by early afternoon.

“We are heartened by the fact the market seems to be shrugging off a major geopolitical event,” said Jim Russell, director of core equity strategy for Fifth-Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, which manages 22 billion dollars.

But Russell added that because of the Columbus Day holiday, volume was too light to say the day’s trading represented a trend or theme.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.60, or 0.06%, to 11,857.81. The Dow remains near its record closing high of 11,866.69.

Broader stock indicators ended slightly higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.08, or 0.08%, to 1,350.66, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.78, or 0.51%, to 2,311.77.

The Dow briefly crossed 11,872.94, a new intraday trading high during the session. Last week the Dow Jones industrial average hit new closing records for three straight sessions. Stocks have been rallying since their six-month lows in late July; the Standard & Poor’s 500 has rebounded more than 9% since its July lows.

Some cyclical stocks, such as semiconductors and department stores, have seen run-ups greater than 18 percent since the July lows, said David Sowerby, portfolio manager at Loomis, Sayles & Co, which manages 75 billion dollars.

The rally has left investors divided about whether stocks are set to march higher or whether they are already at the top. With earnings season set to begin this week, investors will be watching closely for any disappointments.

Sowerby said he felt the market has room to go higher. “I just view these natural pauses as a buying opportunity,” he said.

Equities volume was light and the US bond market was closed for Columbus Day. Ten-year Treasuries closed on Friday with a yield of 4.70%.

The US dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies. Gold prices rose. A barrel of light crude settled at 59.96 dollars, up 20 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In company news, the family that controls Cablevision Systems Corp. offered to take the company private for 27 dollars a share in a deal that values the cable television operator at 7.9 billion dollars. Cablevision rose 2.53 dollars to 26.46 dollars.

Google Inc. rose 8.50 dollars to 429 dollars on reports they would announce a deal to acquire YouTube.com, the privately held video-sharing website, for roughly 1.6 billion dollars. The deal was announced after today’s closing bell.

Mercantile Bankshares Corp. rose 8.16 dollars to 44.94 dollars after PNC Financial Services Group Inc. agreed to buy the Mid-Atlantic bank for nearly 6 billion dollars in a stock and cash deal. PNC fell 3.11 dollars to 70.49 dollars.

Advancing issues led decliners by roughly 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 1.26 billion shares, down from 1.57 billion at the same time Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.76, or 0.64%, to 744.57.