Dow, S&P 500 Closed at Record Highs

U.S. stocks closed at record highs on Thursday following another piece of good news on the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 109.14 points, or 0.64%, to 17,265.99, closing at a record high. The S&P 500 added 9.79 points, or 0.49%, to 2,011.36, also setting a new record. The Nasdaq Composite rose 31.24 points, or 0.68%, to 4,593.42.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) on Thursday reported a fiscal first-quarter profit of $2.2 billion, or 48 cents a share, on $8.6 billion in revenue, compared with earnings of $2.2 billion, or 47 cents a share, on sales of $8.4 billion in the same period a year ago.

Larry Ellison, a college dropout who built Oracle Corp. into one of America’s largest companies, is stepping down as chief executive. Mr. Ellison has been the only CEO in the history of Oracle ORCL, -2.05% , which he founded in 1977 and turned into a dominant seller of database software.

McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) said Thursday it’s raising its quarterly dividend by 5% to 85 cents a share. The new payment will be made on Dec. 15 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 1.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) introduced a handful of new devices, including a $100 tablet aimed at the masses and a high-end electronic-reader that the company says is the closest e-reading experience to plain paper.

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