Stocks sailed to new records today as continued optimism about corporate profits and strong consumer spending offset the effects of a rocky bond market.
At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 66.81 at 11,193.70, topping its previous record close of 11,187.36, set on Wednesday.
The Standard and Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq composite index also hit new records. For the Nasdaq, rich with technology stocks, Friday was the sixth record-setting day in seven sessions.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by an 11-to-seven margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,804 up, 1,148 down and 606 unchanged.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.67 to 456.42.
Stocks flourished as the first few companies to report second-quarter earnings met Wall Street's high expectations. Analysts now expect the strongest profit growth since the third quarter of 1997.
