NEW YORK - Stocks closed higher for a second day Thursday after traders found room for optimism amid mixed economic reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 6 points a day after leaping 226. It was the first back-to-back gain for the Dow since late April.
Stocks climbed on reports that business at the nation's services companies grew in May and that the number of people seeking first-time jobless claims slipped for a second week. The gains faded at times as the day wore on, but stocks recovered by the close as traders anticipated the Labor Department's May jobs report, due Friday.
The Dow rose 5.74, or 0.1 percent, to 10,255.28. The Dow's two-day gain of 231 points, or 2.3 percent, was the first since April 28-29.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.45, or 0.4 percent, to 1,102.83, while the technology-focused Nasdaq index rose 21.96, or 1 percent, to 2,303.03.
The economic news gave a boost to much of the market, but energy stocks posted some of the biggest gains after the price of oil rose. Range Resources rose more than 6 percent, while Noble Energy added more than 5 percent.
Stocks have moved erratically in the past week after major indexes hit trading lows for the year on May 25. It's still not clear whether the market has finished a slide that began in late April after stock indexes touched their highest points of the year.
The market has been vulnerable to swings because of worries about the economic fallout of the Gulf oil spill and the economic problems in Europe.
