Stocks finished modestly higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 logging its first record close since May 7 as investors shrugged off another round of hotter-than-expected inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.06%
rose around 20 points, or 0.5%, to finish near 34,466, according to preliminary figures. The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.47%
gained around 20 points, or 0.5%, to close around 4,239, taking out its previous record finish at 4,232.60. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.78%
advanced nearly 109 points, or 0.8%, to around 14,020. Inflation data showed the cost of living surged again in May and drove the pace of inflation to a 13-year high of 5%. Meanwhile, initial applications for unemployment benefits fell by 9,000 to 376,000 in the week ended June 5, the lowest since March 2020.