Stocks edge up, streak continues

NEW YORK - Boeing Co. helped the stock market edge higher Monday, extending a scorching start to July.

The plane maker's stock was one of the standouts as the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose for an eighth straight day, its longest streak of gains since January.

Boeing gained $3.79, or 3.7 percent, to $105.66 after it was found that batteries were not the cause of a fire on one of its 787 aircraft at London's Heathrow airport Friday. Earlier this year, smoldering batteries on two 787s caused the plane to be grounded for more than three months.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.96 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 15,484.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.31 points, also 0.1 percent, to 1,682.50. The S&P is up 4.8 percent so far in July. Both the Dow and S&P are at all-time highs.

The Nasdaq composite rose 7.41 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,607.49.

Citigroup gained Monday, leading other bank stocks higher, after reporting earnings that beat analysts' expectations for the second quarter as investment banking profits surged. The bank's stock rose $1, or 2 percent, to $51.81.

The market's advance was held back by news that economic growth in China, the second-biggest economy in the world, fell to the lowest since 1991, hurt by weak trade and efforts to cool a credit boom. China's economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.5 percent in the second quarter, down from 7.7 percent in the same period a year earlier.

Slowing global growth is one of the biggest threats to this year's stock rally, said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners. He predicts that stocks may be poised to slump as much as 15 percent in the coming months.

In commodities, the price of crude oil rose 37 cents to $106.32 a barrel. Gold rose $5.90, or 0.5 percent, to $1,283.50 an ounce. The dollar rose against the euro and the Japanese yen.

In government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.55 percent from 2.58 percent Friday. The yield is used as a benchmark for many kinds of loans.

Among other stocks making big moves, Leap Wireless soared $8.97, or 112 percent, to $16.95 after the carrier agreed to be acquired by AT&T for $1.19 billion, or $15 a share. The deal was announced late Friday. AT&T fell 26 cents, or 0.7 percent, $35.55.