NEW YORK -- Stocks crept higher near the close today, overcoming some mild profit-taking on yesterday's rally and boosting the Dow Jones industrial average to its second straight record after a six-month drought. Dow gains 18.94;
tops 8,300The Dow never strayed more than 20 points in either direction all day, but pulled higher over the final half hour to finish 18.94 points higher to close at 8,314.55, its first close above 8,300.
The Dow, which yesterday rose about 115 points to 8,295.61 to beat its Aug. 6 record of 8,259.31, is now up about 5 percent for 1998.
Advancers led decliners by a 9-to-8 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,536 up, 1,362 down and 571 unchanged. NYSE volume was 593.86 million shares vs. 641.52 million yesterday.
The broad market was mixed, with several leading indexes edging to new highs after meandering through the sleepy session. The S&P 500 and the NYSE composite index closed at record highs.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.00 to 1,020.01, and the NYSE composite index gained 0.79 to 530.75. The Nasdaq composite index, which yesterday closed above 1,700 for the first time since just before the selloff in late October, slipped 0.49 to 1,708.55.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.83 to 452.02, but the small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite index fell 1.71 to 684.33.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up 1 1/16 point, or $10.31 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.85 percent from 5.92 percent late yesterday.