Stocks Closed Higher; S&P 500 At Record

U.S. stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday with the S&P 500 hitting an intraday record and finishing at an all-time high for the 13th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 65.56 points, or 0.39%, to 16,698.74. The S&P 500 rose 10.25 points, or 0.54%, to 1,920.03. The Nasdaq Composite was up 22.87 points, or 0.54%, to 4,247.95.

Pending home sales improved for the second straight month in April, according to the National Association of Realtors  (NAR). Gains in the Midwest and Northeast offset declines in the West and South. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a
forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 0.4 percent to 97.8 in April from 97.4 in March, but is
9.2 percent below April 2013 when it was 107.7.

Virgin Galactic. Sir Richard Branson announced in November 2013 that his space tourism company would accept bitcoin. Now, on the one hand, Virgin Galactic is part of Sir Richard’s sprawling Virgin Group, which had north of $24 billion in
revenue in 2012.