NEW YORK -- Stocks rallied into the close today, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to its first finish above 9,000 in three weeks. The Dow rose 96.65 points to close at 9,048.67 after nearly faltering for the fifth straight session in a bid to hold above 9,000. Dow up 96.65
The barometer of 30 big companies has risen in six of the past seven sessions, gaining 337 points, and now sits just 163 points from May 13's record close of 9,211.84. The Dow's last finish above 9,000 was on June 9.
Advancers led decliners by more than a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,105 up, 960 down and 469 unchanged. NYSE volume was 682.79 million shares, down from 754.85 million yesterday.
Broad-market indicators also rallied over the final hour after posting modest gains for most of the day. The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at a new high for the fourth time in six sessions, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq closed in on its first record in more than two months.
The S&P 500 rose 14.72 to 1,148.56, topping Monday's high of 1,138.49. The Nasdaq composite gained 19.72 to 1,914.46, just shy of its best finish of 1,917.61 set on April 22 and the first close above 1,900 since then. The Nasdaq has surged nearly 12 percent over the past two weeks. The NYSE composite gained 6.87 to 585.60, and the American Stock Exchange composite rose 2.03 to 723.31. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 2.46 to 459.85.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond rose 1/32 point, or 31 cents per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.61 percent from 5.62 percent late yesterday.