U.S. stocks closed slightly higher Friday, but the slim gains were enough to send the Dow and S&P 500 to new all-time record closing highs and the Nasdaq to the highest level in over a decade. In U.S. economic news, the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters' Consumer Sentiment Index for July declined slightly, and fell short of expectations. While optimism about current conditions rose to the highest level since July 2007, the future expectations index fell sharply. Also, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly report on the producer price index, showing an increase of 0.8 percent in June. That is nearly triple the expected rise of 0.3 percent - largely driven by a spike in gasoline prices. In international economic news, investors became confused about China's growth projections after the country's finance minister signaled growth could be 7 percent for the year, below the government's official forecast of 7.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite index and the Hang Seng index both fell back after staging big run-ups earlier in the week. In corporate news, JPMorgan Chase reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations, while revenue just barely beat forecasts. But the stock was only slightly higher as some of the profit gains came from accounting adjustments rather than strong growth in the underlying business. Wells Fargo shares rose 1.8 percent after the bank reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations. Package delivery giant UPS lowered its outlook for profit growth this year, sending shares down almost 6 percent. The dollar lost ground against the euro, the pound, and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery rose $1.04 to $105.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures lost $2.30 to $1,277.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial climbed 3.38, or 0.02 percent, to 15,464.30. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.17, or 0.31 percent, to 1,680.19. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 21.78, or 0.61 percent, to 3,600.08.
