NEW YORK — Stocks are closing mostly higher on Wall Street as a brief afternoon rally deflated.
Trading was quiet despite the release of minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy committee.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up a fraction to 1,652 Wednesday, its fifth gain in a row.
The last time the index had five straight gains was early May, before investors started worrying that the Fed was preparing to cut its economic stimulus.
The Dow Jones industrial average gave back eight points to 15,291. The Nasdaq rose 16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,520.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.68 percent from 2.64 percent.
More stocks rose than fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.
