Markets End Day Higher

US stock indexes closed barely higher, led by gains in energy companies as the price of crude oil rose for the fifth day in a row, the AP reports. Hess jumped 4% Monday and rig operator Transocean increased 2.6%. Phone companies were the biggest laggard Monday. AT&T lost 0.5%. Trucking companies Swift Transportation and Knight Transportation rose sharply on news the companies have agreed to combine. Swift jumped 23.7% and Knight climbed 13.4%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1 point, less than 0.1%, to 2,357. The Dow Jones industrial average also gained 1 point, less than 0.1%, to 20,658. The Nasdaq edged up 3 points, or 0.1%, to 5,880. (More Dow Jones stories.)