Dow Came Within 50 Points of 20,000

A surge in banks and other financial stocks that stand to benefit from higher interest rates led US indexes higher, the AP reports. The dollar climbed to its strongest level in 14 years Thursday. The price of gold sank on expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates several more times next year. Yahoo dropped 6% after disclosing another massive data breach. Mondelez International, whose brands include Oreos and Nabisco, rose 4% following reports that Kraft Heinz might buy it. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 59 points, or 0.3%, to 19,852. It came within 50 points of crossing 20,000 earlier. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8 points, or 0.4%, to 2,262. The Nasdaq composite added 20 points, or 0.4%, to 5,456. (More Dow Jones stories.)