US Stocks Edge Closer to Record Highs

A late wave of buying left stocks modestly higher on Wall Street after a day of bobbing between small gains and losses, the AP reports. The gains Wednesday left major US indexes slightly closer to the record high closes they reached in July. Health care and communications companies did the most to pull the market higher. Thermo Fisher Scientific rose 5% after reporting solid results and raising its forecast for full-year revenue and profit. The S&P 500 rose 8 points, or 0.3%, to 3,004. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points, or 0.2%, to 26,833. The Nasdaq edged up 15 points, or 0.2%, to 8,119. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 1.76%. (More stock market stories.)