NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks halted a week-long slump today, recording modest gains in quiet trading before some key economic data due tomorrow. Dow up 52.56
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52.56 points to close at 8,951.52, snapping a five-session, 285-point slide that followed April 21's record close of 9,184.94.
Advancers led decliners by nearly a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,924 up, 1,040 down and 530 unchanged. NYSE volume was 638.09 million shares vs. 677.74 million yesterday.
The broad market posted modest gains for the second straight session, recovering more of the ground lost in Monday's steep slide. The Standard & Poor's 500 list rose 9.51 to 1,094.62, and the NYSE composite index gained 4.74 to 568.30. The Nasdaq composite index rose 19.87 to 1,851.64. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 4.44 to 476.98, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 9.29 to 742.32.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was unchanged by late afternoon, while its yield held at yesterday's 6.07 percent.
With investors still smarting from Monday's revelation that the inflation watch has taken center stage again at the Federal Reserve, no big moves were expected before tomorrow's report on employment costs -- which typically account for two-thirds of a product's price. Monday's selloff, which chopped 147 points off the Dow, was spurred by reports that Fed officials have shifted from their recent bias toward possibly cutting interest rates to stimulate the economy. Instead, the central bankers are apparently considering a rate hike to contain inflation by slowing the economy.