NEW YORK -- Stocks rallied today, led by technology shares and financial services issues, after Federal Reserve officials decided against raising interest rates to slow the economy as a hedge against inflation. Dow up 75 on Fed inaction
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.58, or about 1 percent, to 7,303.46, about 30 points shy of its all-time high set last Thursday. The barometer of 30 big companies had fallen by as much as 76 points before today's Fed policy meeting ended without any change in the central bank's interest rates.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,419 up, 1,055 down and 880 unchanged. NYSE volume was 447.17 million shares vs. 345.14 million yesterday.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 8.39 to 841.66, and the NYSE's composite index rose 3.06 to 437.20, leaving both measures less than a point shy of record territory. The Nasdaq composite index rose 22.34, or 1.7 percent, to 1,363.58, moving within 25 points of its all-time high, set back in January. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 3.28 to 590.76.
Technology issues and smaller-company shares, which had been outperforming the blue-chips since the morning, extended their gains after the Fed meeting to boost the Nasdaq market.
Among leading Nasdaq technology issues, Intel, Dell Computer, Cisco Systems and Microsoft posted big gains.
IBM, meanwhile, jumped the equivalent of 19 Dow points to lead the blue-chip average.