NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks rallied today and the broad market halted a four-session slump after popular names such as Disney, Ford and Merck posted robust profit reports. Dow rises 102
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 102.14 points to close at 7,815.08. Advancers led decliners by nearly a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,749 up, 1,204 down and 507 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 678.00 million shares vs. 553.93 million yesterday.
Broader stock indicators also posted sizable gains, with some moving back within reach of record territory.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 12.11 to 969.06, less than two points of its 1998 starting point. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 17.44 to 1,578.90, giving that measure an 8-point gain for the new year. The NYSE composite index gained 4.92 to 505.20, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.92 to 666.59. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gained 1.52 to 422.53.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was off 19/32 point, or $5.94 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 5.94 percent from 5.89 percent late yesterday.
Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
In the absence of any major developments in the economic crisis in Asia or the political crisis at the White House, company reports on the final three months of 1997 dominated today's trading.
The Dow's biggest gainer was Walt Disney Co., which surged after the media conglomerate reported a fourth-quarter profit of $755 million that beat Wall Street forecasts.