NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks posted modest gains on Tuesday, bringing indexes nearly back to the record levels they reached last week. Homebuilders rose sharply following a big jump in sales of new homes last month, and Best Buy soared after the electronics retailer reported a surge in profit as online sales increased.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.88 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,547.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.26 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,186.90 and the Nasdaq composite rose 15.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,260.08.
It was another quiet day in trading on Wall Street. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was again below 3 billion shares, marking one of the slowest days of the year. Monday was the slowest day so far in 2016. Investors have had little in the way of economic data or company news to react to for the last couple of weeks, and many traders are on vacation in the ending days of summer.