Stocks edge higher after manufactured goods report

NEW YORK — Stocks were mostly higher Wednesday after a strong report on American manufacturing. The maker of the hit game "Candy Crush Saga" flopped in its market debut and Facebook dropped after announcing its acquisition of virtual reality company Oculus.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,869 as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 37 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,404. The Nasdaq composite was flat at 4,234.

BEST IN MONTHS: Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting manufactured goods rose in February by the largest amount since November, 2.2 percent. Demand for airplanes and automobiles drove the gains. Last month's rise in durable goods orders followed a 1.3 percent drop in January.

A SLOW GRIND: The stock market is still going through a phase of consolidation after big gains in 2013, and any move higher would likely come in the second half of the year, said David Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Global Asset Management.

Investors should also expect lower returns this year after the big gains since stocks bottomed out five years ago. The S&P 500 is up 1.2 percent this year, after surging almost 30 percent last year.

"Equity markets will be fine this year, but expectations have to come down a lot," Lafferty said.

VIRTUAL REALITY: Facebook fell $1.49, or 2.3 percent, to $63.40 after agreeing to pay $2 billion for virtual reality company Oculus. It's Facebook's second big acquisition in as many months. Last month the social network announced that it would pay $19 billion for messaging startup WhatsApp.

CANDY CRUSHED: King Digital Entertainment, the maker of the popular "Candy Crush Saga" game, slumped on its first day of trading. The company raised $499.5 million in an initial public offering that values the company at about $7.1 billion. The stock fell $2.07, or 9.2 percent, to $20.40 in early trading.

FIVE BELOW: Discount retailer Five Below shot higher after its quarterly profit and sales beat analysts' expectations. The stock jumped $5.25, or 13.8 percent, to $44.35 before the start of regular trading.

GAMBLING PROBLEMS: International Game Technology fell $1.24 cents, or 8.4 percent, to $13.61 after the company lowered its annual profit forecast, saying North American gambling revenue has declined more steeply than it expected. Its international business is being hurt by weakening currencies and other problems.

TREASURYS AND COMMODITIES: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.73 percent from 2.75 percent from late Tuesday. The price of crude oil rose 71 cents to $99.90 a barrel. Gold fell $7.90, or 0.6 percent, to $1,303.60 an ounce.

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