Dow soars 174.02
as fears ease

NEW YORK -- Stocks moved broadly higher in a late rally today as new economic reports eased investor fears about an interest rate increase next week.

The Dow Jones industrial average, led by financial stocks, rose 174.02 to close at 10,769.32.

A late afternoon rally pushed the Nasdaq composite index up 23.86 to 3,221.15, the 10th record close in the last 11 sessions. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 14.60 to 1,396.06.

Advancers beat decliners by a better than 8-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,665 up, 1,312 down and 540 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 900.11 million shares vs. 884.55 million yesterday. The NYSE composite index gained 7.28 to 636.67; the American Stock Exchange index rose 3.84 to 823.07; the Russell 2000 rose 2.20 to 449.69.

The 30-year Treasury bond rose 26/32 point, or $8.13 per $1,000 face amount; yields fell to 6.03 percent from 6.09 percent late yesterday.

Qualcomm, a developer of wireless phone technology, turned the market around with a 40 percent rise in its stock price. J.P. Morgan's analyst issued a bullish report on the company, which revived some tech stocks pulled down earlier by negative comments about Intel from Merrill Lynch.

Financial stocks rose as investors bet the Federal Reserve wouldn't raise interest rates for a third time this year when its Open Market Committee meets on Tuesday. The market was encouraged by a government report that worker productivity jumped in the third quarter while growth in labor costs moderated.