Utilities were the S&P's biggest percentage gainers, regaining some ground lost in the previous week along with real estate.
Caterpillar closed up 2.5 percent to $166.03, just below a record high set earlier in the day, after JP Morgan upgraded the stock saying the tax overhaul could help North America's construction business cycle extend in 2018.
Kohl's Corp rose 4.7 percent after the department store operator posted far stronger same-store sales for the holidays than its bigger peers.
GoPro Inc shares ended down 12.8 percent at $6.56 after the company said it would be open to a sale but is not actively pursuing one. Earlier in the day, the shares lost about a third of their value, hitting a record low at $5.04, after GoPro announced preliminary fourth-quarter revenue that was well below expectations and said it would exit the drone business.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.40-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.03-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 98 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 124 new highs and 26 new lows.
Volume so far on U.S. exchanges was 6.36 billion shares, compared to the 6.28 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
This article was provided by Reuters.