Stocks close at record highs as rally rolls on

Stocks closed higher Friday as the market continues a record-setting run with all the major indexes hitting new all-time highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.96 points, or 0.4%, to close at a record high of 19,152.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 8.63, or 0.4%, to an all-time high of 2213.35.

The Nasdaq rose 0.3%. to a record 5398.92 and the Russell 2000 gained 0.4% to 1347.20.

Trading was relatively quiet as investors returned from the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. and as markets closed at 1 p.m. Friday in a holiday-shortened session. Safe-play stocks like utilities and phone companies were among the biggest winners in the early going. Banks fell.

The Dow and S&P 500 have risen sharply since the presidential election in anticipation that plans by President-elect Donald Trump to slash taxes, reduce regulations and spend on infrastructure will speed economic growth and corporate profits will rise. Those two major indexes have hit new all-time highs in recent days.

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Overseas, European an Asian markets were slightly higher Friday.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.2% and Germany’s DAX bumped up 0.1%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 0.3% and South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.6% higher.

Analysts said oil prices will be reacting to whether the OPEC members reach an agreement on meaningful output cuts during their meeting next week. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 2.6% to $46.71 per barrel in electronic trading on New York Mercantile Exchange.