NEW YORK —
U.S. stocks drifted higher Monday but lost the momentum from their biggest week of the year. A dividend from Apple, a deal for UPS and the promise of greater demand for U.S. Steel drove those stocks to gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up as much as 37 points but sank most of the afternoon and finished up 6.51 at 13,239.13. It was a ho-hum performance compared with the Dow’s 310-point gain last week.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 5.58 points to 1,409.75, its highest close since May 20, 2008. The Nasdaq composite index rose 23.06 points to 3,078.32.
An index of homebuilder confidence came in unchanged. Without major economic news or headlines out of Europe, the markets were steered by announcements from a handful of well-known companies.
Apple rose 2.7 percent to $601.10, its first close above $600, after announcing that it would pay a shareholder dividend and buy back $10 billion of its stock over three years.
The dividend is expected to expand the company’s shareholder reach because value-oriented mutual funds that focus on dividends will buy it. Apple’s stock has already skyrocketed from $405 this year, partly in anticipation of the dividend.
UPS rose 3.4 percent after announcing it would buy TNT Express, the second-largest express- mail company in Europe, behind DHL. The purchase further solidifies UPS’s status as the world’s largest delivery company.
U.S. Steel climbed 6.4 percent, the best performer in the S&P 500, after some manufacturers announced price hikes last week, fueling expectations of improving demand. Steel Dynamics and AK Steel also rose.
The markets couldn’t match the electricity of last week. The Dow and the S&P 500 both rose 2.4 percent last week, their best showings of the year so far. For the first time, the Dow closed above 13,000 and the Nasdaq above 3,000 on the same day.
On Monday, while ever-present concerns about European debt, a slowdown in China and the pace of U.S. economic growth were bubbling below the surface, investors seemed to take a day off from worrying about them.
“The absence of any negative news over the weekend was pretty positive,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Va., who described the market as complacent. “It sounds backward, but that’s quite often the case.”
