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Dow rises 78
Associated PressNEW YORK -- Investors brushed off worries about Microsoft Corp.'s future today, sending its shares higher and fueling a rally in technology stocks that spread to the broad market.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 77.87 to 10,811.78. The Nasdaq composite index rose 97.42 to 3,958.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 15.82 to 1,468.25. Advancers outnumbered decliners by nearly a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,955 up, 1,042 down and 427 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 952.51 million shares vs. 970.34 million on Friday.
The NYSE composite index gained 6.41 to 650.57, the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 13.73 to 936.18 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies advanced 12.68 to 518.93.
The Treasury's 30-year bond yield climbed 3 basis points to 5.99 percent. Its price fell , or $3.75 per $1,000 face amount, to 103 21/32.
Microsoft rose $3.69 to $73.44 in the first session since the Justice Department asked a federal court to divide the company in two to satisfy antitrust concerns. Late Friday afternoon, the Justice Department and 17 states recommended splitting the company into one business for Microsoft's Windows operating-system software, and one for the company's applications products and Internet businesses.
The proposal was widely expected, and many investors determined that the possibility of a breakup had already taken its toll on Microsoft stock. Before today's session, Microsoft's share price had declined by about 40 percent since the start of the year.