Stocks Stage Another Late Rally

Updated from 4:18 p.m. EST

Stocks shook off early sluggishness and ended higher Thursday as weakness in tech giants Google (GOOG Quote) and Dell (DELL Quote) failed to keep buyers on the sidelines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51.99 points, or 0.41%, to 12,673.68, its highest ever close. The S&P 500 added 7.70 points, or 0.54%, to 1445.94, and the Nasdaq Composite reversed losses and rose 4.45 points, or 0.18%, to 2468.38.

Roughly 2.91 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Advancers beat decliners by an 8-to-3 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached nearly 2.22 billion shares, with winners outpacing losers 5 to 3.

The market were coming off a session in which it rallied sharply after the latest meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers. The Fed left rates unchanged and offered commentary that was considered bullish by Wall Street.

The Dow gained 98.38 points, or 0.79%, to 12,621.69, and the Nasdaq was higher by 15.29 points, or 0.62%, at 2463.93.

Ken Tower, chief market strategist with CyberTrader, said that Wednesday's move higher should have "led to a good selling opportunity" that never materialized.

"What to do now is a tougher call for shorter-term traders," said Tower. "Here we are at the top of the trading range. The small- and mid-cap stocks are breaking out, but technology is lagging."

Weighing on the tech sentiment was Google, despite a strong fourth-quarter earnings report. After the previous closing bell, the Internet search giant reported earnings of $1.03 billion, or $3.29 a share, nearly tripling the year-ago results. Revenue jumped 67% to $3.2 billion. Both earnings and sales topped estimates.