Dow up 19.18
in slow session

NEW YORK -- Stocks posted slim gains today as only a skeleton crew showed up for a shortened post-Christmas session that saw the lightest volume of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average pulled back from an early 57-point bounce, but ended up 19.18 at 7,679.31, enough to push the year's gain back above 19 percent. The Dow trimmed the week's loss to 79.98.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,474 up, 1.219 down and 536 unchanged.

NYSE volume totaled 154.83 million shares, down from 263.33 million in Wednesday's similarly shortened session.

Broad-market indexes also retreated from some larger gains.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 3.76 to 936.46, and the NYSE composite index rose 1.28 to 493.60.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 10.75 to 1,510.28, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.17 to 663.77.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up $1.56 per $1,000 in face value, while its yield fell to 5.90 percent from 5.91 percent in Wednesday's shortened session.

Merck and IBM led the Dow's advance as the only two components in the blue-chip barometer with a move of at least 1 point. Similarly, Microsoft and Cisco Systems were the only leading Nasdaq names with noteworthy gains.

Analysts said few investors were willing to make any big bets in the shortened trading day with so many players taking an extended weekend.