NEW YORK - Stocks closed mixed today as a recovery in the bond market pushed blue chips higher, but poor-performing Internet shares carried the Nasdaq composite index lower. Dow up 72.82
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 72.02 to 10,563.33 after having dropped 309 points last week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up .36 at 1,294.00 while the technology-dominated Nasdaq fell 49.57 to 2,398.31.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a margin of about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,302 up, 1,683 down and 545 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 671.38 million shares vs. 703.06 million on Friday. The NYSE composite index rose .10 to 619.60 and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 3.13 to 762.69. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 6.48 at 431.53
Several factors helped calm some jittery investors who had sold stocks down sharply last week largely over concerns that the Federal Reserve would increase interest rates to prevent the economy from overheating.
Bonds rose today for the first time in two weeks after the Bank of Japan intervened in the global currency markets by buying dollars to slow the advance of the yen. The stronger dollar made U.S. Treasury bonds more attractive to overseas investors and triggered buying that reduced the yield in the 30-year bond from Friday's 6.16 percent high to 6.10 percent.
Meanwhile, comments by Fed Vice Chairwoman Alice Rivlin helped ease concerns that the Fed will increase interest rates at its June 29-30 meeting of its Open Market Committee. Rivlin said inflation worries in the United States are exaggerated.