S&P at highest close in nearly four years

Stocks drifted higher yesterday but lost the momentum from their biggest week of the year. A dividend from Apple, a deal made by UPS and the promise of greater demand for United States Steel Corp. 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, or 0.05 percent, 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 index rose 5.58 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,409.75, its highest close since May 20, 2008. The Nasdaq composite index rose 23.06 points, or 0.75 percent, to 3,078.32.

Without major economic news or headlines out of Europe, the markets were steered by announcements from a handful of well-known companies.

Apple rose 2.65 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.

UPS rose 3.44 percent to $81.11 after announcing it would buy TNT Express, the second-largest express mail company in Europe. U.S. Steel climbed 6.35 percent to $31.64 after some manufacturers announced price hikes last week, fueling expectations of improving demand.