The S&P 500 rose on Monday to trade less than 10 percent below its historic closing high set in October 2007, as news that Apple will start paying a dividend again added to optimism spurred by weeks of strong economic data in the United States to continue to lure investors into U.S. stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 20.25 points, or 0.15 percent, to 13,252.87. The S&P 500 Index <.INX> rose 6.03 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,410.20. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 21.10 points, or 0.69 percent, to 3,076.36.

The S&P 500's session high of 1,410.44 was less than 10 percent below the benchmark's historic closing high of 1,565.15 set on October 9, 2007.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)