Dow Runs to New Record

The 38th U.S. president died at the age of 93, and the Big Board has a tradition of closing on the nationally recognized day of mourning following the passing of a president.

Turning to the economy, the government said new homes were sold at an annual rate of 1.047 million in November, up a bit from the pace of right at 1 million in October. The pickup in housing sales was better than the 1.02 million rate analysts had expected.

Energy prices were generally lower. A day after falling 2%, crude oil futures were down another 76 cents to $60.34 a barrel. Precious metals were higher, led by a gain of $3.40 in the price of gold to $630.30 an ounce.

Treasuries were sinking. The 10-year note was dropping 13/32 in price and yielding 4.65%, and the 30-year bond was down 23/32 and yielding 4.78%.