S&P 500 hits 5-year high

Stocks moved higher on Thursday as  the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) finished at a new five-year high.

The market has had a strong-enough start to 2013 that those who watch things like the "January effect" believe stocks have a decent shot at moving higher for the year.

The question for Friday is how the market reacts to American Express' (AXP) announcement late Thursday that it will cut 5,400 jobs -- about 8.5% of its workforce -- and take hundreds of millions of dollars in charges for the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo (WFC) also reports results before the open.

The S&P 500 finished the day up 11 points to 1,472, its best finish since Dec. 28, 2007. It is within 94 points of its all-time closing high of 1,565, set on Oct. 9, 2007. The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) were up 81 points to 13,471, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) added 16 points to 3,122.

The major averages were up for the second day in a row and fifth in the last eight sessions.

According to the Stock Traders Almanac, an up year for the S&P 500 has been accompanied by a rise in the index in the first five trading days of the year about 85% of the time.

The fifth day was Tuesday, and the three major averages were higher. They've risen four of the first seven trading days of the year and are now up 3% for the month.

Admittedly, this may be no more than simple coincidence. Moreover, it's also true that the market faces considerable head winds, most notably the debt ceiling crisis that requires Congress to pass legislation raising the nation's debt ceiling or run the risk of shutting the government down.

American Express put a damper on the enthusiasm with its surprise earnings report. It wasn't scheduled to report results until Jan. 17. Shares were off 64 cents to $60.15 after hours. The stock had closed up 53 cents to $67.09 in regular trading.

Because of the job cuts, American Express expects to end 2013 with 4% to 6% fewer employees. It has 63,500 employees now.

The company took a $400 million charge to fourth-quarter earnings. That cut profits to $637 million, or 56 cents per share. Excluding the charges, the company would have earned $1.2 billion, or $1.09 per share, beating the Street estimate of $1.06 a share.

The market moved higher on Thursday thanks in large part to reports of  growing exports from China. Financial, energy and telecom stocks were the market leaders.

Bank of America (BAC), up 35 cents to $11.78, was the top percentage gainer among the 30 Dow stocks.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) contributed 14.5 points to the Dow gain as energy prices moved higher.

Crude oil (-CL) moved up 72 cents to $93.82 a barrel in New York and is up 2.2% month. Gold (-GC) jumped $22.50 to $1678 an ounce.