NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stock indexes held steady in midday trading on Tuesday and tacked on a bit more to their records set a day earlier. Trading was again quiet, with only modest moves for bond yields, commodities and other markets. Stock markets were closed in Germany, China and South Korea for holidays.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,531, shortly before noon Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 77, or 0.3 percent, to 22,634, and the Nasdaq composite rose 2, or less than 0.1 percent, to 6,518. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks dipped by 5 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,505. All four indexes set a record on Monday after a reading on U.S. manufacturing growth hit its highest level in 13 years.
PAYDAY: Paychex, which offers payroll, human-resources and other services for companies, jumped to one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after reporting stronger earnings and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock rose $2.64, or 4.4 percent, to $62.45.
REVVED UP: General Motors and Ford Motor were among the market's leaders after each reported strong sales growth in the United States for last month. It's a turnaround for automakers, which had seen sales drop across the industry through the year's first eight months.
GM climbed $1.16, or 2.7 percent, to $43.31, and Ford gained 28 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $12.37.
BUILDING HIGHER: Homebuilder Lennar rose after it reported stronger sales and earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Interest rates remain relatively low, and the strengthening job market is helping to convince more people to buy homes. Lennar rose $1.46, or 2.8 percent, to $54.28.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude dipped 16 cents to $50.42 per barrel. That follows a $1.09-per-barrel slide on Monday as worries mount that the world has more oil available than it needs. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, fell 8 cents to $56.04 a barrel.
YIELDS: Bonds prices rose, which pushed yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.32 percent. The two-year yield fell to 1.46 percent from 1.49 percent, and the 30-year yield held steady at 2.87 percent.
CURRENCIES: The dollar inched up to 112.80 Japanese yen from 112.65 yen late Monday. The euro rose to $1.1759 from $1.1746, and the British pound dipped to $1.3251 from $1.3286.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: France's CAC 40 rose 0.4 percent, and the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.4 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1 percent to its highest closing level in two years, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.2 percent.