Cash, oil help Dow to record close

NEW YORK — Wall Street shot higher Wednesday after investors shrugged off a mixed reading on the housing sector and focused on the positives: a jump in industrial output, a retreat in crude-oil prices and new cash pouring into the stock market. The Dow Jones industrials rose 103 points to another closing record.

The Dow rose 103.69, or 0.77 percent, to 13,487.53, to its 23rd record close of the year. It also hit a new trading high of 13,489.57.

Microsoft, one of the 30 Dow stocks, added 17 cents to close at $31.07.

Boeing, also a Dow stock, gained $1 to end the day at $95.34.

Broader stock indicators advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 12.95, or 0.86 percent, to 1,514.14, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 22.13, or 0.88 percent, to 2,547.42.

News that billionaires Warren Buffett, Edward Lampert and Carl Icahn were upping equity investments also gave investors confidence that stocks will climb, although the Dow has risen more than 1,300 points in the past two months.

Investors seem to be choosing to take weak housing data in stride; a lackluster read on home sales on Tuesday upended a big rally in stocks that sent the Dow Jones industrials briefly above 13,400 for the first time, but the market quickly regained its footing Wednesday.

"We seem to be in a period of time where it doesn't make a difference what the news is — the market seems to find a reason to go up," said Ron Kiddoo, chief investment officer at Illinois-based Cozad Asset Management.

Investors also embraced the Fed's report that industrial output rose by 0.7 percent in April, more than double the 0.3 percent gain expected.