NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average closed higher Thursday, regaining half of its decline the day before, as buyers returned to the market.
The Dow rose 55.76 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 14,606.11. On Wednesday, it dropped 111, its worst fall in more than a month, following weak reports on hiring and service industries. The decline was enough to make stock prices seem attractive again.
The stock market got off to a strong start in 2013. The Dow climbed 10 percent in the first three months of the year and closed at a record high of 14,662 Tuesday. Investors have been encouraged by signs that the housing market was recovering and that hiring was picking up.
The market continued a steady advance through the first two weeks of March, but since then indexes have been alternating between gains and losses on a nearly daily basis as investors' confidence in the U.S. economic recovery weakened.
In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.29 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,559.98. The Nasdaq composite fell rose 6.38 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,224.98.