Stocks close higher following consumer spending data

Stocks climbed higher for the second straight day today as an already buoyant Wall Street embraced robust consumer spending figures and largely overcame disappointment in Google Inc.’s profit report. Both the Dow Jones industrials and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies closed at new highs.

The gains followed Wall Street’s best day of the year on Wednesday, when it advanced sharply after the Federal Reserve signaled that the economy remained solid and that inflation was mostly in check.