S&P 500 marks a seventh straight record high on Wall Street

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and STAN CHOE
AP Business Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks pushed further into record heights on Friday following an encouraging report on hiring across the country. The S&P 500 closed 0.4% higher, clinching an all-time high for the seventh straight day. Trading was scattershot, though, and after climbing to an early gain of 0.8%, the S&P 500 at one point gave up virtually all of it. Stocks retrenched in the middle of the day as Treasury yields surprisingly slumped. The 10-year yield, which tends to move with expectations for the economy and inflation, dropped to 1.48%, near its lowest level since September. Crude oil prices rose.