Banks lead Wall Street up; traders brush off Iraq

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 ending near its record after three days of gains, as investors shrugged off the turmoil in Iraq and focused on data pointing to higher inflation, which helped lift bank shares. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.48 points or 0.16 percent, to end unofficially at 16,808.49. The S&P 500 gained 4.21 points or 0.22 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,941.99. The Nasdaq Composite added 16.13 points or 0.37 percent, to close unofficially at 4,337.23. (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)