NEW YORK -- Stocks extended a month-end rally today, with the S&P 500 setting a record and the Dow Jones industrial average briefly moving above 8,000 for the first time since early January. Dow up 57.55
The Dow finished 57.55 points higher to close at 7,973.02 after swinging from an early 32-point loss to a gain of nearly 100 points.
Advancers led decliners by a 12-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,874 up, 1,097 down and 510 unchanged. NYSE volume was 749.62 million shares at the close, at least the fourth biggest tally in NYSE history. Yesterday, 711.26 million shares were traded, the sixth heaviest volume before today.
Broader stock indicators also struggled at the open before drawing a boost from the bond market, where interest rates fell sharply as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivered an unalarming report to Congress.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 8.04 points to close at 985.50, beating its Dec. 5 record close of 983.79. The Nasdaq composite index, which yesterday rose nearly 32 points for its first close above 1,600 since Dec. 9, climbed 8.67 to 1,619.49. More than 800 million shares changed hands on Nasdaq.
The NYSE composite index rose 3.91 to 513.13, about a point shy of its all-time best close of 514.31 on Dec. 5. The Russell 200 index of smaller companies rose 3.39 to 431.99, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.31 to 669.86.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up 11/2 points, or $15.62 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield dropped to 5.83 percent from 5.94 percent late yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.