The Dow industrials shot back into record territory yesterday, fuelled by solid profit reports from J.P. Morgan and Johnson and Johnson and by hopes that Japan's political upheaval will spur the Asian economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 149.33 at 9,245.5. The Dow's all-time intra-day high is 9,261.91, set during trading on May 4th.
Broader stock indicators also saw big gains. The Standard and Poor's 500 index passed last Wednesday's closing record and the red-hot Nasdaq market hit its fifth-straight record close.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a seven-to-five margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,763 up, 1,195 down and 593 unchanged.
The NYSE composite index rose 6.19 to 597.61, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.73 to 732.20.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.71 to 459.46.
