NEW YORK – The stock market turned quiet Wednesday and just managed to notch a fifth straight day of gains.

Even the release of minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve didn’t jolt stocks.

Two major U.S. stock indexes were barely changed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose a fraction of a point to 1,652.62. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 8.68 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,291.66.

Every move the Fed has made in recent months has been analyzed. Wednesday’s minutes from the June policy meeting were no exception.

But the minutes offered no surprises. The report showed many Fed members want to see further job gains before cutting back on the central bank’s stimulus measures.

It also showed some divisions among officials over when the Fed should slow that stimulus.

“I don’t think the minutes offered anything that would change (my) view of the market’s direction or the Fed’s intentions,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist for Prudential Annuities.

The Fed has been buying $85 billion worth of bonds each month. That has helped keep interest rates at historic lows and spurred borrowing and investing.

The small gain in the S&P 500 Wednesday kept alive its winning streak. The index has now risen five days, its best streak in two months. Investors have become more confident about the economy after the strong June jobs report.

In another sign of confidence, small-company stocks continued their surge. The Russell 2000, which represents 2,000 publicly traded companies with small market valuations, rose 2.4 points, or 0.2 percent, to a record 1,020.42.

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is at its highest level since October 2000. The Nasdaq gained 16.5 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,520.76.

Despite its rise, the index would still have to rise 43 percent to match its all-time high of 5,048 reached March 10, 2000, the peak of the dot-com bubble.

Speaking in Cambridge, Mass., late Wednesday afternoon, Bernanke said the economy still needs support from the Fed’s low-rate policies.