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Stocks return to their record territory

NEW YORK - U.S. stock indexes drifted back to record highs Wednesday as investors got ready for another round of corporate reports to begin. Technology, health care, and household goods companies all rose.

NEW YORK - U.S. stock indexes drifted back to record highs Wednesday as investors got ready for another round of corporate reports to begin. Technology, health care, and household goods companies all rose.

Technology companies such as PayPal, Visa, and Google's parent company Alphabet made some of the biggest gains as the market was little changed for the third day in a row. Banks slipped along with interest rates and industrial companies took small losses.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 4.60 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,555.24. The Dow Jones industrial average added 42.21 points, or 0.2 percent, to 22,872.89. The Nasdaq composite rose 16.30 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,603.55. All three indexes finished at all-time highs. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks edged down 1.08 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,506.92.

Airlines rose for the second day in a row. Delta Air Lines' profit and revenue were better than analysts anticipated, and the company also issued a strong forecast for the fourth quarter. Delta rose 37 cents to $53.07. It has surged 9 percent since Oct. 3, when it raised its third-quarter projections. JetBlue gained 30 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $20.53 after it gave an update on the revenue it lost following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Johnson & Johnson led health-care companies higher after it asked regulators to approve its drug apalutamide. It's intended for patients with a hard-to-treat form of prostate cancer. Johnson & Johnson stock climbed $2.75, or 2.1 percent, to $136.65.

JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup will report their quarterly results Thursday morning as bank earnings get started.

Sears sagged after the company's former Canadian unit asked a court to allow it to liquidate its 130 remaining stores. Sears Canada said it couldn't find a buyer to allow it to stay in business. Sears Canada was split off from Sears Holdings in 2014, but the U.S. business has also been struggling for years and investors are unsure about its future. On Wednesday the stock lost 46 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $6.24.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 38 cents to $51.30 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 33 cents to $56.94 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline picked up 2 cents to $1.61 a gallon. Heating oil gained 2 cents to $1.79 a gallon. Natural gas remained at $2.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold fell $4.90 to $1,288.90 an ounce. Silver lost 7 cents to $17.13 an ounce. Copper gained 4 cents to $3.10 a pound.

The dollar rose to 112.42 yen from 112.37 yen. The euro rose to $1.1855 from $1.1804.