NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks have climbed back from their lows of the day. Investors are drawing comfort from signals that the Federal Reserve is worried about the slow economic recovery and feels more urgency about providing help.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index, down most of the day, eked out a gain of less than a point, to 1,413.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 31 at 13,172. It was down as much as 83 earlier. The Nasdaq composite index added six points at 3,074.
Gold climbed $14 an ounce to $1,657, its highest level since early May.
Declining stocks beat advancers by about 3-to-2. About 3 billion shares were traded on another light summer day.