NEW YORK -- Stocks rose modestly today, padding Friday's big gains and positioning some measures for a new run toward record levels. Dow gains 31.89
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 31.89 points to 9,069.60, about 140 points from May 13's record close of 9,211.84.
Advancers led decliners by a 9-to-7 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,690 up, 1,318 down and 532 unchanged, but decliners led by a slender margin in Nasdaq trading. NYSE volume totaled 533.66 million shares, down from 556.41 million on Friday.
The broad market also extended Friday's rally, although the battered technology group fell back into a rut after a two-session rebound.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.88 to 1,115.74, about 15 point from April 22's record of 1,130.54. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 4.85 to 1,787.77, but sits about 30 points from record terrain.
The NYSE composite index rose 1.45 to 576.82, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.57 to 713.69. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.10 to 456.34.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was off 1/32 point, or 311/4 cents per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield held at 5.79 percent, the same as late Friday.
There were no major economic reports to consider in today's session, which was dominated by news of a $34 billion merger between Norwest Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. and the government's decision to bring an antitrust complaint against Intel Corp.
Overseas today, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average fell 0.2 percent.