Dow rises 73
on steady rates

NEW YORK -- Stocks rallied to new highs today after the Federal Reserve confirmed expectations by not raising interest rates to slow the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 73.05 points, ending at 7,795.38, just shy of June 20's record finish at 7,796.51.

Advancers led decliners by nearly a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,859 up, 963 down and 575 unchanged. NYSE volume was 526.78 million shares vs. 539.41 million yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 13.01 to 904.04, closing above the 900-mark for the first time. Also setting new highs were the NYSE composite index, up 5.70 to 471.71; and the Nasdaq composite, up 17.37 to 1,455.62. The American Stock Exchange index rose 4.45 to 630.06, just 0.04 shy of record territory.

Although the stock market was mostly higher since the open, the Dow had been trading slightly lower until Fed officials concluded a two-day strategy meeting with no change in the central bank's key lending rates.

Few observers had expected any change in Fed rates.

Still, with most stock measures hovering near record territory, that desired outcome was already factored into market prices, analysts said.

In the latest suggestion that the robust U.S. economy may be slowing enough to ease inflationary pressures without a Fed rate hike, the Commerce Department reported today that orders to U.S. factories fell a bigger-than-anticipated 0.7 percent in May.