The S&P 500 rose on Monday to trade less than 10% below its historic closing high set in October 2007, as news that Apple will start paying a dividend again added to optimism spurred by weeks of strong economic data in the United States to continue to lure investors into US stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20.25 points, or 0.15%, to 13,252.87. The S&P 500 Index rose 6.03 points, or 0.43%, to 1,410.20. The Nasdaq Composite added 21.10 points, or 0.69%, to 3,076.36.
The S&P 500's session high of 1,410.44 was less than 10% below the benchmark's historic closing high of 1,565.15 set on October 9, 2007.