NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 8,500 for the first time to highlight another record-setting day. Dow jumps 55.05
to top 8,500The Dow rose 55.05 points to close at 8,545.72, finishing at a record high for the third day in a row and extending its 1998 gain to more than 8 percent. The Dow was up 131.78 for the week.
The Standard & Poor's 500 and the New York Stock Exchange composite index also set new highs, but lagged the Dow's advance, while the Nasdaq composite index pulled back after closing at record highs for two straight days.
Advancers led decliners by an 8-to-7 margin on the NYSE, with 1,558 up, 1,356 down. NYSE volume was 573.70 million shares vs. 645.76 million yesterday.
The S&P 500 list rose 0.67 to 1,049.34, and the NYSE index rose 0.87 to 544.26. But the Nasdaq composite fell 6.61 to 1,770.50 The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.29 to 461.83, edging closer to its Oct. 13 record of 465.21. The small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite rose 5.70 to 706.12, about 15 points shy of a complete recovery from October's selloff.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was down 13/32 point, or $4.06 per $1,000 in face value, in late afternoon trading, while its yield rose to 5.98 percent from 5.95 percent late yesterday.
For the first two months of 1998, the Dow and S&P 500 are up 8 percent, the Nasdaq composites is up 12.75 percent, the NYSE composite is 6.47 percent higher, while the Amex composite is up 3.14 percent and the Russell 2000 is up 5.68 percent.