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Devastated Dow
rebounds past 10,000The index ends ahead 176.53
Star-Bulletin news services
points after an earlier
294-point gainNEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrials soared today as bargain hunters grabbed shares at reduced prices following last week's big selloff. Technology issues, which slumped amid a bout of profit-taking early today, bounced back in late trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 176.53 points, or 1.8 percent, to 10,038.65, climbing above the 10,000-benchmark that it fell below Friday for the first time in more than 10 months. The Dow had been up more than 294 points in afternoon trading before some late profit taking.
The Nasdaq composite index, which fell 124 points earlier today, finished down only 12.65 at 4,577.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 14.69 to 1,348.05.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a narrow margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,467 up, 1,492 down and 518 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 1.027 billion shares vs. 1.06 billion Friday.
The NYSE composite rose 7.78 to 584.20; the American Stock Exchange composite gained 20.84 to 964.38; and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.94 to 557.68.
U.S. Treasury bond prices fell on expectations reports this week will show economic growth isn't slowing, boosting concern the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates until the pace of consumer spending cools off.
The 30-year bond's yield rose 6 basis points to 6.19 percent, and its price fell point, or $8.75 per $1,000 face amount. Two-year yields climbing 11 basis points to 6.5 percent, the biggest one-day increase in two months. Benchmark 10-year note yields rose 11 basis points to 6.43 percent.
A report today from the Commerce Department showed that Americans' personal incomes rose a higher-than-expected 0.7 percent last month, its strongest pace in three months. Consumer spending, meanwhile, rose 0.5 percent last month.
The report is "just confirmation of how strong economic conditions continued early into the new year," said Kevin Flanagan, an economist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. in New York.
In recent weeks, much of the stock market -- especially blue-chip shares -- has been battered by fears that the Fed will raise interest rates to reduce inflationary pressures in the robust U.S. economy. But today, investors brushed such concerns aside and took advantage of the cheap prices available as a result of the decline in financial services, retail and drug stocks over the last few weeks.
"Today was a mirror image of the dismal performance on Friday that left investors trembling," said Alan Ackerman, vice president at Fahnestock & Co. "But today it reversed itself and there was a genuine sigh of relief in the market."
Still, analysts warned that the Dow's dramatic rise might be short-lived and many expect the index to fall back into its volatile pattern in coming weeks as investors continue to shift money into companies with the best chance for rapid earnings growth. That should bode well for the Nasdaq, which comprises many companies that are on the forefront of the new economy. "Investors are asking "Where can I find earnings growth?" said Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist at Edward Jones of St. Louis. "They know that they can find such growth in technology, Internet and telecom stocks. Those are outperforming the old economy stocks."