U.S. stocks close with S&P 500 up for a third day

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U.S. stocks close with S&P 500 up for a third day
from MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks on Tuesday closed nearly unchanged after a two-session rise as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged lawmakers to reach a budget agreement and end uncertainty over the so-called fiscal cliff of scheduled spending cuts and tax hikes. "This is a classic fear-driven market. It seems like people in Washington are much more willing to play nice together, but a lot of folks on Main Street and Wall Street just don't trust them yet," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners LLC. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.45 points, or less than 0.1%, to 12,788.51. The S&P 500 index rose nearly 1 point, or 0.1%, to 1,387.81. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.61 point to 2,916.68.