S&P 500 closes at new record, ends strong quarter

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 set a record closing high on Thursday, finishing a fifth consecutive month of gains to extend a four-year long rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52.38 points, or 0.36 percent, to end unofficially at 14,578.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 6.33 points, or 0.41 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,569.18 - a record closing high. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 11.00 points, or 0.34 percent, to close unofficially at 3,267.52.

The S&P 500 surpassed its previous record set in October 2007.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.6 percent.

Thursday marked the end of the trading week. The U.S. stock market will be closed on Friday in observance of the Good Friday holiday.

For the month of March, the Dow climbed 3.7 percent, the S&P 500 rose 3.6 percent and the Nasdaq added 3.4 percent.

For the first quarter, the Dow shot up 11.2 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 10 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 8.2 percent. (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)