Dow, S&P 500 hit new closing highs

Stocks climbed Thursday and the Dow and S&P 500 set new records as investors weighed encouraging U.S. economic news against weaker global data.

Investors were pleased with positive U.S. reports on tame inflation, stronger homes sales and declining jobless claims. But global markets were mostly lower following soft Chinese and European economic data.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 each finished up 0.2% and hit new closing highs, topping record finishes both indexes reached Tuesday.

Gaining 33 points to its closing high of 17,719 even was the Dow. The S&P 500 settled at its new record mark of 2052.75 after gaining 4 points.

The Nasdaq composite index ended the day 0.6% higher.

All three indexes opened slightly in the red before turning positive about mid-morning.

Fears that the 18-country eurozone could be sliding back into recession were stoked by a survey from financial information company Markit. Its purchasing managers' index for the eurozone, a broad gauge of business activity, fell to a 16-month low of 51.4 points in November from 52.1 in October.

European shares ended mixed: Britain's FTSE index lost 0.3%, Germany's DAX index climbed 0.1% and France's CAC 40 index fell 0.8%.

In China, a preliminary survey of factory activity showed manufacturing in the world's second-largest economy slid to a six-month low this month. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.1% to reach 17,300.86 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 0.1% to 23,349.64.

On Wednesday, U.S. markets closed marginally lower as the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest policy meeting in October, revealing little about when the central bank might raise its short-term interest rate.

Most economists predict that the Fed will not raise rates before June.

Contributing: Associated Press