NEW YORK - Stocks posted a broad advance today, but failed to hold even sharper gains as investors grew leery before a holiday weekend that will leave Wall Street unable to react to overseas events for three days. Dow climbs 61.78
The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 100 points twice during the session, but finished just 61.78 points higher at 7,753.55, a gain of 173.13 for the week.
Advancers led decliners by better than a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,134 up, 858 down and 479 unchanged. NYSE volume was 665.84 million shares vs. 568.05 million yesterday.
Broad-market indicators also pulled back toward the close.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 10.78 to 961.51, and the NYSE composite index gained 5.72 to 503.67. The Nasdaq composite index rose 15.82 to 1,562.88, and the American Stock Exchange composite index climbed 8.45 to 663.99. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.50 to 426.25.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was fell 1 1/32 point, or $10.31 per $1,000 in face value by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 5.81 percent from 5.74 percent late yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Stocks opened the day higher after the main index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange jumped more than 6 percent amid expectations the government will take further steps to shore up Japan's troubled economy. Other Asian markets, including Hong Kong, also rose.
Bank and technology stocks, which have been battered repeatedly amid worries about their considerable exposure to Asia's troubled economies, were buoyed by the strong showing overseas.
There was little market reaction to a Federal Reserve report that the nation's industrial output grew solidly in December, capping a year that saw production rise 5 percent over 1996.