The Dow Jones industrial average touched a record high for the fourth straight session yesterday as government data helped soothe inflation worries and the latest earnings results pointed to robust corporate growth.

The S&P and the Nasdaq were nearly unchanged, as some investors took stocks' best monthly performance in three years as a cue to lock in profits by selling their shares.

Both the S&P and Nasdaq Composite gained more than 5 per cent in April. The Dow is up more than 6 per cent.

Citigroup Inc, the biggest financial services company, was the biggest boon for both the S&P and the Dow, up nearly 2 per cent to US$54.39 after the Financial Times said senior Citigroup executives fear the group could become the target of activist hedge funds that would press for it to be broken up.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 33.07 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 13,154.01 at mid-session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.18 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 1,496.25.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.93 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 2,554.28.

The Dow industrials rose to a record high of 13,158, extending the record-setting pace that sent the blue-chip index past the 13,000 mark for thefirst time last Wednesday.

Investors were also cheered by stronger-than-expected profits from companies such as consumer electronics retailer RadioShack Corp, conglomerate Loews Corp and Wm Wrigley Jr Company, the world's largest chewing-gum maker.

"Earnings are coming in better-than-expected yet again. Analysts lowered the bar and companies didn't have any trouble getting over it, at least not in the aggregate," said Brian Gendreau, investment strategist at ING Investment Management in New York.

"And unlike last time, the market's actually rewarding companies for beating this time."

First-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are now projected to rise 7.4 per cent, up from a forecast growth rate of 5.3 per cent the previous week, Reuters Estimates said.

Shares of New York-based International Securities Exchange shot up after the board of directors accepted a takeover offer from Deutsche Boerse, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday. Shares of ISE, the largest U.S. equity options market, were up 43.2 per cent at US$65.45.

On the economic front, investors received reassuring news on inflation, as the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge rose less than expected in March.

The Commerce Department said March core consumer prices, an inflation measure favoured by the Federal Reserve that excludes volatile food and energy costs, were unchanged.

Analysts were expecting core PCE to rise 0.1 per cent.

- Reuters