US share prices closed sharply higher yesterday after year-end position-squaring and futures-related buying programmes pulled the market out of its recent torpor, dealers said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Wall Street's principal index of blue-chip stock prices, closed up 94.23 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 9,320.98, just 54 points short of its record high.
The Standard and Poor's 500 index finished at a record high, up 16.28 at 1,241.78, while the Amex composite index closed up 11.34 at 1,010.14 and the NYSE composite was up 8.04 at 597.05.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange picked up from recently poor levels to stand at 590.6 million by the close, with 1,741 issues higher, 1,364 lower, and 560 unchanged.
The Nasdaq composite index, meanwhile, also ended at a record high, up 0.88 points at 2,181.18.
The US bond market saw rising prices yesterday, with the average yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bonds slipping to 5.118 per cent, down from Monday's close at 5.212 per cent.
