Dow up 66.8
to another record

NEW YORK - Stocks sailed to new records today as continued optimism about corporate profits and strong consumer spending offset the effects of a rocky bond market.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 66.81 at 11,193.70, topping its previous record close of 11,187.36, set Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq composite index also hit new records.

The S&P 500 gained 8.86 to close at 1,403.28 while the Nasdaq rose 21.21 to end at 2,793.07. For the Nasdaq, rich with technology stocks, today was the sixth record-setting day in seven sessions.

Advancers beat decliners by an 11-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,801 up, 1,124 down and 602 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 705.25 million shares vs. 824.09 million yesterday.

The NYSE composite index rose 3.63 to 657.68, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.04 to 812.73. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gained 3.23 to 457.98.

Despite the solid gains, stocks were somewhat unsettled by continuing volatility in the bond market.

Bond prices plunged early in the session, due in part to the pricing of a massive, $8.6 billion bond offering by Ford Motor Co. and its Ford Motor Credit unit.

Prices evened out as the market digested the impact of the new corporate supply.

The yield on the Treasury's 30-year bond, which had spiked as high as 6.03 percent at noon, edged back to 5.98 percent.