US stocks hold steady

US stock prices held firm on Thursday after the Dow and Standard & Poor's 500 reached record intraday highs, while crude fell below $80 a barrel for the first time in four years on further signs of a slowdown in China's economy. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 40.59 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 17,652.79, the S&P 500 ended up 1.08 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 2,039.33 and the Nasdaq Composite finished 5.01 points, or 0.11 per cent higher, at 4,680.14.Brent crude, which has fallen more than 30 per cent since June, settled down $2.46 or 3.1 per cent at $77.92 a barrel, while US oil futures settled down $2.97 or 3.85 per cent at $74.21. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. The euro gained 0.3 per cent at $1.2477, while sterling hit a 14-month low at $1.5694. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasuries slipped 1.5 basis points to 2.35 per cent. Safe-haven gold rose 0.08 per cent to $1,161.18 an ounce, holding above Friday's 4-1/2-year low of $1,131.85, according to Reuters.