US stocks hold near record highs

US stock prices held steady on Tuesday after the Dow and Standard & Poor's 500 hit record intraday highs for a fifth straight session, while the dollar rose against the yen on the prospect of a delay in a planned sales tax hike in Japan. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 1.16 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 17,614.9, the S&P 500 closed up 1.42 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 2,039.68 and the Nasdaq Composite finished up 8.94 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 4,660.56. The US bond market was closed for the Veterans Day holiday. In the energy market, Brent crude futures in London closed down 67 cents, or 0.8 per cent, at $81.67 a barrel after hitting a four-year low of $81.23. US crude settled up 54 cents, or 0.7 per cent, at $77.94. Spot gold rose $16.30 or 1.42 per cent, to $1,166.43 an ounce after shedding 2 per cent on Monday, according to Reuters.