Dow extends
record run by 80

NEW YORK -- Stocks charged to more new highs today as bond-market interest rates sank to their lowest level in more than a year amid enthusiasm about the federal budget deal.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 80.36 points to close at 8,254.89, plowing past 8,200 just two weeks after its first close above 8,000. Today's Dow close was the third consecutive record high and its sixth in seven sessions.

The blue-chip barometer has now risen 28 percent this year, already surpassing last year's 26 percent advance and triple what many experts had forecast.

Advancers beat decliners by a 5-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,083 up, 838 down and 515 unchanged. NYSE volume was 568.48 million shares vs. 544.55 million yesterday.

Broad-market indicators also padded yesterday record highs. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index pushed back into record territory for the first time in two weeks.

The Standard & Poor's 500 list rose 10.00 to 952.29, the NYSE index rose 5.14 to 493.57, and the American Stock Exchange composite rose 5.12 to 645.32.

All three measures closed at records yesterday. The Nasdaq index rose 15.73 to 1,588.05, beating its previous record finish at 1,580.63 on July 16.

Stocks drew most of their strength from the bond market, where the yield on the 30-year Treasury -- a key influence on consumer and corporate borrowing costs -- fell to 6.33 percent. The long-bond yield hasn't finished a day that low since February 1996.