Dow rockets up
184 on report

NEW YORK - Stocks soared today as a new government report suggested inflation remains in check, leading to hopes that the Federal Reserve need not be aggressive in raising interest rates to cool off the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 184.26, or 1.7 percent, to close at 10,973.65, For the week, the index rose 2.4 percent.

Broader stock indicators were also sharply higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 29.52, or 2.27 percent, to 1,327.68, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 88.32, or 3.46 percent, to 2,637.81.

Advancers led decliners by a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,952 up, 1,037 down and 527 unchanged. NYSE volume was 696.74 million shares vs. 747.72 million yesterday.

The NYSE composite index rose 10.75 to 621.38; the American Stock Exchange composite index advanced 3.09 to 783.74. The Russell 2000 index gained 5.23 to 434.05.

The stock market gained ground as interest rates retreated in the bond market on a Labor Department report of a modest rise in the producer price index, a measure of inflation pressure before it reaches the consumer.

Prices at the wholesale level rose a less-than-expected 0.2 percent in July, the Labor Department said. Yields on the new 30-year Treasury bonds auctioned yesterday fell to 6.10 percent this afternoon from 6.19 percent before the figures were released.

Investors have been nervous for weeks about the likelihood that Fed policy-makers will raise interest rates for a second time this summer when they meet Aug. 24.