NEW YORK -- Encouraging economic news pushed stocks higher Wednesday, although a slump in energy companies and utilities kept broader gains in check.
By the end of the day, seven of 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose. Utility stocks dropped 1.4 percent and energy companies fell 0.7 percent, along with the price of oil.
The S&P 500 edged up 4.47 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,114.07. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 64.33 points, or 0.4 percent, to end at 18,076.27. The Nasdaq composite climbed 22.71 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,099.23.
Stocks climbed from the start of trading on news that U.S. exports rose in April and that hiring picked up in May. The buying followed a rise in overseas markets on hopes of a breakthrough in Greece's talks with its creditors.
The Federal Reserve said a survey of business conditions showed that manufacturing held steady or increased in most parts of the country. A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service firms grew in May at the slowest pace in a year.
Investors are anxious for signs that U.S. growth is picking up, but not so much that the Fed will feel compelled to raise interest rates too fast and send stocks down sharply.
Colleen Supran, principal at investment firm Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough, said Wednesday's reports seemed to strike a sort of Goldilocks' balance of hot, but not too hot.
"It's not so robust, that anyone can come out and say, 'The Fed has got to raise rates,'" she said. "Everything is just good enough."
Utility companies were driven down by a sharp rise in bond yields. Investors like utility stocks for their fat dividends, but bonds are becoming more attractive as a source of income. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose Wednesday to 2.37 percent, the highest since November.
Energy stocks fell as the price of benchmark U.S. oil slid nearly 3 percent. The two biggest decliners in the S&P 500, Chesapeake Energy and Diamond Offshore Drilling, each fell by more than 3 percent.
Among big gainers for the day was clothing maker G-III Apparel Group, which reported earnings and revenue that came in well ahead of what Wall Street analysts expected. Its stock surged $7.06, or 12 percent, to $67.15.
Investors also were keeping an eye on Greece. The country's prime minister is trying to persuade creditors to accept a proposal that could unlock much-delayed bailout loans, but he's running out of time.
Greece has to make a payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday, then make a series of other payments in the coming months. If it fails to repay past loans and get new ones, Greece may have to exit from the euro, a development that could roil the 19-country eurozone.
"The consensus is that they'll meet the June 5 payment ... but the concern is they'll struggle mightily to meet their July payment," said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. "The market is taking one payment at a time, but this continues to loom as a major point of concern."
Business on 06/04/2015