Dow Ekes Out Another Record As U.S. Stocks Close Mostly Lower

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Thursday, pressured by a sharp decline in energy shares, though the Dow bucked the trend to close slightly higher and put in its seventh straight record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1% to 22,026. The blue-chip index has risen for eight straight sessions, its longest such streak since February. The S&P 500 fell 5.5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,472.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 22.3 points to 6,340.3, a decline of 0.4%. Energy shares were by far the biggest losers of the day, with the sector tumbling 1.5% in its biggest one-day percentage loss since July 5, falling alongside a drop in the price of crude oil. Among the biggest losers, Noble Energy Inc. was down 7.7% while Apache Corp. lost 8%. On the upside, Tesla Inc. gained 6.5% a day after its results.