NEW YORK -- Stocks rose sharply for a third straight session today as signs of economic weakness failed to impede the latest push in Wall Street's autumn rebound. Dow rises 114
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 114.05 points to 8,706.15 for a three-session gain of 334 points and the first close above 8,700 since mid-August.
Broader indicators also padded the big gains scored on Thursday and Friday, when stocks rallied into the close of yet another volatile October.
The S&P 500 rose 12.93 to 1,111.60 and the NYSE composite index gained 7.89 to close at 551,24.
The Nasdaq index rose 29.52 to close at 1,800.91. The small company-dominated American Stock Exchange composite index was 11.21 higher at 656.62 and the Russell 2000 index gained 8.66 points to end at 386.82.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was down 1 3/16 points, or $11.871/2 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 5.23 percent from 5.15 percent late Friday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The Dow has now rallied about 1,240 points, or 16.6 percent, since dropping below 7,500 on Oct. 8. With about two months left to 1998, the Dow holds a gain of 800 points for the year, but remains another 600 points below the July 17 record of 9,337.97.
In Europe, Germany's DAX index rose 1.9 percent, Britain's FT-SE 100 rose 1.6 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.3 percent.
In Japan, the Nikkei stock average rose 2.9 percent amid news of a possible alliance between Fuji Bank Ltd. and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd.