NEW YORK -- Stocks closed above 9,000 for the first time, vaulting into record territory today on news of a mammoth financial services merger. Dow takes 9,000 mark
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 49.82 at 9,033.23. The barometer of blue-chip stocks hit 9,000 for the first time Friday, only to close nearly 17 points short.
Despite the rise in the Dow, decliners outnumbered advancers by a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 603 million shares, below Friday's pace.
The S&P 500 list was down 1.31 at 1,121.39. The NYSE composite index was up 0.09 at 583.17 -- surpassing the record hit on Friday.
The technology-laden Nasdaq composite was down 26.23 at 1,829.17 and the American Stock Exchange composite was down 4.41 at 742.78.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was off 15/32 at 104 7/32 this afternoon, while its yield rose to 5.82 percent from 5.79 percent late Friday.
A spree of buying followed today's announcement that Citicorp and Travelers Group are merging in a record $70 billion deal.
"What's moving the market today is purely the financial merger," said William P. Miller, chief investment officer at American Express Asset Management Group in Minneapolis. "In fact, if you take the finance stocks out of the Dow, it's down today."
The Dow's record closing came little more than five months after the industrial average tumbled below 7,000.