S&P 500 closes at record high, up for 4th week

Stocks rose Friday as the S&P 500 closed at another record high and had its best August since 2000.

It was the 32nd record close for the benchmark index and its best month since February. The Dow and S&P have posted gains for four weeks in a row.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.63 points, or 0.3%, to a record close of 2003.37. The benchmark index gained 0.8% for the week and jumped 3.8% for the month.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18.88 points, or 0.1% to 17,098.45. The blue-chip index posted a 0.6% gain for the week and was up 3.2% for August.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 22.58, or 0.5%, to 4580.27. The tech-heavy index had a 0.9% weekly gain and was up 4.8% for the month.

Trading was light ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend and gains were kept in check as geopolitical concerns kept investors on edge after the U.K. said it's raising its terror threat level to severe in response to events in the Middle East.

In economic news, consumer spending unexpectedly fell in July as it dropped 0.1%. Economists expected a 0.2% rise. The government also said personal income rose 0.2%.

European benchmarks closed higher after initialy dropping sharply when Britain raised its terror alert. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 6819.75 and Germany's DAX gained 0.1% to 9470.17. France's CAC-40 was up 0.3% to 4381.04.

Asian markets were mixed, as weak economic data shows Japan is still struggling to recover from a sales tax hike. The Nikkei 225 lost 35.27 points, or 0.2%, to 15,424.59 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was essentially flat at 24,742.06 and the Shanghai Composite gained 21.38 points, or 1%, to 2217.20.

Thursday stocks fell as the Dow closed down 42.44 points, or 0.3%, to 17,079.57. The S&P 500 index dropped 3.38 points, or 0.2%, to 1996.74, retreating from its record close of 2000.12 set the day before. The Nasdaq fell 11.93, or 0.3%, to 4557.69.