HP leads Dow average up

Hewlett-Packard helped pull the Dow Jones industrial average to a slight gain Thursday, giving the index only its fourth gain this month.

Stocks flipped between gains and losses throughout the day after a meeting of European leaders failed to deliver new steps to ease the region's debt crisis.

The Dow closed up 33.60 points at 12,529.75. Fears that Europe's troubles could turn into a worldwide financial crisis have pushed the 30-stock average down 5 percent this month, erasing most of its gains for the year.

U.S economic news gave traders little direction. Orders for long-lasting factory goods edged up in April, but a key category that tracks business investment spending fell for the second month in a row.

HP rose 3 percent after the maker of personal computers and printers said it plans to purge 27,000 employees to save $3 billion or more.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.14 percent to 1,320.68. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.38 percent to 2,839.38.