Dow Claws Way to Record

Energy prices inched higher following the latest weekly report on inventory levels. Crude futures rose 3 cents to close at $63.13 a barrel, while natural gas ended up 8 cents at $7.50 per million British thermal units.

The Energy Department's latest weekly inventory figures showed a decline of just 1 million barrels in crude inventories. Gasoline stocks fell by a greater-than-expected 2.7 million barrels, while distillates were lower by only 800,000 barrels.

Metals prices were little changed. Gold added 80 cents to $693.30 an ounce, and silver was off 5 cents at $13.97 an ounce.

Overseas, markets were mixed in Asia and dropping in Europe. Tokyo's Nikkei added 0.8% to 17,667, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.06% to 20,777. London's FTSE shed 0.6% to 6460, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX was losing 0.9% to 7282.

The earnings torrent will continue at full force on Thursday. Among those scheduled to report are Google (GOOG Quote), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD Quote), American Express (AXP Quote), homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI Quote) and Merck (MRK Quote).