How the major stock indexes fared Wednesday (AP)

It was a quiet end to a wild month for financial markets.

Stocks edged higher for a fourth straight day Wednesday on a report that factory orders surged in July. The Dow Jones industrial average turned higher for the year. The Dow's winning streak ended a tumultuous August that included four consecutive days of swings of 400 points or more, a first in the history of the index.

The Dow rose 53.58 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,613.53

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 5.97, or 0.5 percent, to 1,218.89.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 3.35, or 0.1 percent, to 2,579.46.

For the week:

The Dow is up 328.99, or 2.9 percent.

The S&P 500 is up 42.09, or 3.6 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 99.61, or 4 percent.

For the year to date:

The Dow is up 36.02, or 0.3 percent.

The S&P 500 is down 38.75, or 3.1 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 73.41, or 2.8 percent.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110831/ap_on_bi_ge/us_wall_street_box

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