NEW YORK — An encouraging earnings forecast from UPS and stronger manufacturing figures Thursday gave the stock market its sixth straight advance.
The gains were modest after a surprise increase in the number of newly laid-off people seeking unemployment benefits.
Analysts said a slowdown in the market’s upward push was overdue. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21 points after racing up 104 on Wednesday. The Dow closed above 11,000 Monday for the first time in 1 1/2 years. Other major stock indexes also stand at their highest levels since 2008.
The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index posted the biggest rise of major indexes ahead of earnings from Google.
The Internet-search company reported after the closing bell that its first-quarter profit rose 37 percent, but the stock fell 4 percent in electronic trading on concerns the company wasn’t holding down costs.
Nasdaq 100 index futures slipped 0.1 percent after Google’s report.
The forecast from UPS raised hopes that the economy is strengthening. The company raised its full-year earnings target because of stronger international deliveries. Coming from the world’s largest shipping company, UPS’s results are seen as an early indicator of overall business activity. UPS shares rose 5.3 percent.
The Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly for a second straight week.
The Dow rose 21.46, or 0.2 percent, to 11,144.57, its highest close since Sept. 19, 2008. The Dow has risen three out of every four days in the past two months, but it hadn’t gone up six straight days since mid-March.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 1.02, or 0.1 percent, to 1,211.67, while the Nasdaq rose 10.83, or 0.4 percent, to 2,515.69.
Crude oil fell 33 cents to $85.51 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
