NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks rallied today as bargain hunters tried to take advantage of a nearly continuous slide from the record highs set earlier this month. Dow up 112
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 111.99 points to 9,026.95, wiping out the losses of the prior two days, but still more than 300 points from July 17's record of 9,337.97.
Broader stock indicators also posted their best performance in two weeks, a period dominated by uncertainty about future growth in the economy and company profits, as well as the latest developments in the Monica Lewinsky case.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 17.65 to 1,142.86, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 38.13 to 1,919.62.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by nearly a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,916 up, 1,024 down and 570 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 681.11 million shares vs. 634.71 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite index rose 7.84 to 575.26, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 5.61 to 713.47.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.31 to 429.50.
Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average rose 0.3 percent.
The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond, a benchmark for borrowing costs, fell to 5.72 percent from 5.77 percent yesterday.
IBM Corp. soared $5.63 to $133.63 and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. jumped $2.75 to $63.63 to lead the Dow.
The blue-chip index's big loser was Procter & Gamble Co., which fell $4.50 to $83.63 after issuing a cautious outlook with an otherwise solid profit report.