S&P 500 growth slowing in 2014

Call it the Great Slog. Stocks are bumbling along after a gangbusters 2013.

The grind is underscored by the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which closed above 1,900 for the first time on Friday and is up just 2.8 percent for the year, compared with a 16 percent increase over the same period last year.

The other major indexes have fared no better. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq composite are barely in positive territory for 2014.

The stock market's five-year bull run is pausing. Economic growth has fallen short of expectations, barely expanding in the first quarter. Investors are more cautious as they wait for compelling evidence growth will continue.

Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya Investment Management, says there will be a "spring snapback" in the economy - company earnings, already at record levels, will keep climbing and support stock prices.

"There are a lot of good things going on in the market," Cavanaugh said.

Friday, the S&P 500 rose 8.04 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,900.53. The index first rose above 1,900 in trading May 13 but closed below that level.

The Dow climbed 63.19 points, or 0.4 percent, to end at 1,606.27. The Nasdaq rose 31.47 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,185.81.

Investors bid up builder stocks on word sales of new homes increased 6.4 percent last month, after slumping the previous two months. Lennar rose $1.55, or 4 percent, to $40.54. D.R. Horton rose 92 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $23.57.