The S&P 500 flirted with a record as U.S. stock-market investors returned from a three-day weekend, awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting and data due later this week.

U.S. stocks crept to a record as the S&P 500 nudged higher after a quiet Tuesday of trading. The main measure of Wall Street's health rose 0.2% to finish just above its all-time closing high set last month.

The Dow was on pace for a 0.4% weekly gain, while the S&P 500 was up 0.5% so far and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% higher through Thursday, according to FactSet. The blame for the Dow being down so much, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are rising, can be put on two stocks, those of Honeywell and Salesforce.