Stocks Close Mostly Higher, Apple Weighs on Tech

U.S. stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 posting a seventh straight day of gains, as reduced worry about Syria countered Apple Inc.’s sharp drop. The Dow Jones Industrial rose 135.54 points, or 0.89%, to 15,326.60. The S&P 500 index rose 5.14 points, or 0.31%, to 1,689.13. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4.01 points, or 0.11%, to 3,725.01

President Barack Obama’s decision to delay military action against Syria eased concerns, yet the issue remained on the back burner.

Federal regulators and stock exchange executives are likely to focus on the stock quotes processor behind Nasdaq’s trading halt last month, but a quick resolution of system outages or market weak spots at the meeting on Thursday is unlikely.

U.S. Treasury bonds posted a price rally Wednesday after a benchmark 10-year note auction attracted the highest demand in six months.

Pandora Media Inc. (P) on Wednesday named Brian McAndrews as the new Chief Executive of the Internet radio company. McAndrews comes to Pandora after stints at Madrona Venture Group and Microsoft Corp.