NEW YORK -- Stocks rallied back today, adding more than 150 points to the Dow Jones industrial average, as investors made a buying opportunity of yesterday's steep selloff. Dow bounces,
ends up 153.80The Dow recouped 153.80 points of yesterday's 192-point plunge, closing at about 7,758.06, less than 40 points shy of Friday's record.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 9-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,781 up, 985 down and 635 unchanged. NYSE volume was 542.65 million shares vs. 492.70 million yesterday.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 17.72 to 896.34, and the NYSE composite index rose 7.68 to 466.17, leaving both measures less than 2 points shy of record territory. The Nasdaq composite index rose 18.11 to 1,452.43, beating last Thursday's record finish at 1,447.14. But the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 0.56 to 619.86.
As yesterday, most of the action took place in the final two hours.
Stocks had started the session strong as investors decided that the yesterday's selloff was an overreaction to a perceived threat by Japan to dump U.S. bonds.
The market pulled back to more modest gains for much of today's session, however, after a report that consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in June.
Higher consumer confidence suggests increased spending, which could aggravate inflation. The stock market has been rallying since mid-April amid signs the economy is moderating enough to avoid another interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve next week.