Stocks up again; Dow positive for year

It was a quiet end to a wild month for financial markets.

Stocks edged higher for a fourth straight day Wednesday, enabling the Dow Jones industrial average to turn higher for the year. The Dow's winning streak ended a tumultuous August that included four consecutive days of swings of 400 points or more, a first in the history of the index.

News of a surge in factory orders Wednesday indicated to investors the manufacturing industry is still healthy. Orders rose 2.4 percent in July, the largest increase since March, after falling 0.4 percent in June. That decline caused worries that manufacturing, one of the best-performing areas of the U.S. economy since the recession ended two years ago, might be starting to sputter.

The Dow rose 53.58 points, or 0.46 percent, to end at 11,613.53. It fell 4.4 percent for the month but is now up 0.3 percent for the year. Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. rose 3.6 percent, the most of the 30 companies that make up the Dow average.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.97, or 0.49 percent, to 1,218.89. It fell 5.7 percent for the month. Financial stocks were the worst performers in August as many worked to raise capital to comply with new regulations. The Nasdaq composite index rose 3.35, or 0.13 percent, to 2,579.46. It fell 6.4 percent for the month.

In the extraordinarily volatile month, the Dow was as high as 12,132 and as low as 10,719. It spent most of August beneath the 2010 close of 11,577. -- AP