NEW YORK: US stocks notched up modest gains in light trading Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday after Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire agreement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.38 points (0.38 percent) to 12,836.89.
The broad-market S&P 500 index added 3.22 (0.23 percent) at 1,391.03, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 9.87 (0.34 percent) at 2,926.55.
"Markets edged higher throughout the session after Egypt and the United States announced that a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas had been reached," Wells Fargo Advisors analysts said.
Traders weighed a batch of mixed domestic data: jobless claims fell last week but remained elevated, the Conference Board's leading economic indicators for October rose in line with expectations and consumer confidence in November slipped more than expected.
Volume was light ahead of Thursday's US market closures in observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Markets will reopen Friday for a shortened session.
Hewlett-Packard and technology shares were strong performers.
Bouncing back from a 12 percent plunge Tuesday after announcing a huge write-down on an acquisition, HP was the strongest Dow gainer, up almost two percent.
On the Dow, Microsoft rose 0.9 percent, Cisco was up 0.8 percent and IBM added 0.6 percent.
Bank of America jumped 1.5 percent and Boeing climbed 0.8 percent.
DuPont was the Dow laggard, down 0.9 percent.
Struggling big-box electronics retailer Best Buy slid 3.3 percent after reporting weak third-quarter earnings.
Deere & Co. shares fell 3.7 percent after the farm and construction equipment maker's quarterly earnings missed estimates.
On Tuesday, stocks closed near breakeven as investors digested HP's write-down and upbeat housing market data.
Bond prices fell. The 10-year US Treasury yield rose to 1.69 percent from 1.66 percent late Tuesday, while the 30-year increased to 2.83 percent from 2.81 percent.
Bond prices and yields move inversely.
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