After spending most of Friday flat or down, stocks rallied at the last minute and closed slightly higher, just enough to post new record highs for the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

The gains were tiny. And the new record doesn’t mean much for investors, who hardly have any more money now than they did a day earlier. But it is a sign that investors believe the market’s rally this year may not be over.

The S&P 500 has closed higher seven days in a row. The last time it did that was in March.

The Dow closed up 3.38 points, just 0.02 percent, at 15,464.30. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.17 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,680.19. Both indexes also closed at all-time highs on Thursday.

The Nasdaq composite edged up 21.78 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,600.08. It’s still well short of its record high of 5,048, set in March 2000.

The Russell 2000, which is made up of smaller companies, rose 3.35 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,036.52.

Investors had to look pasta pessimistic outlook from UPS Inc., which said it was seeing a slowdown in U.S. industry.

And in the afternoon, Boeing shares tanked after one of its 787s caught on fire in London, reviving fears of the troubles that plane had with smoldering batteries earlier this year.

Other economic news was mixed. Profits at big banks Wells Fargo and JPMorgan came in better than expected, and that helped financial stocks. But a University of Michigan measure of consumer sentiment came in lower than expected for this month.

Investors will get a lot more information next week, when key reports on inflation and retail sales are due. That’s also when the pace of company earnings reports picks up sharply. Results are due from the remaining big banks as well as General Electric, Intel, Microsoft and other industry bellwethers.

“This is the jump ball, this is the Lebron James of the market,” said David Darst, chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley Individual Investor Group, referring to the second-quarter earnings rush. “It’s going to determine where the market goes.”

Stocks spent most of Friday down, but not down much. Analysts believe investors are waiting for several major earnings and economic reports next week before deciding whether the rally has further to run.

Anthony Conroy, managing director and head trader for ConvergEx Group, thinks it’s likely that stocks will move higher, as long as second-quarter earnings reports at least match the low expectations that investors have. “The three most important things in the next couple of weeks are earnings, earnings and earnings,” he said.

Crude oil rose $1.04 to close at $105.95 per barrel in the U.S. Other energy prices also rose. Gold slipped $2.30 to $1,277.60.

Business, Pages 28 on 07/13/2013