Posted on 09/27/2006 8:10:29 AM PDT by pissant
Blue chip stocks rose and the Dow Jones industrial average neared its record high close Wednesday as investors shrugged off a lackluster durable goods report and appeared satisfied with an increase in new home sales. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 18.41, or 0.16 percent, at 11,687.80, just over 35 points away from its record high close of 11,722.98.
Broader stock indicators were down. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.41, or 0.03 percent, to 1,335.93, and the Nasdaq composite index declined 0.82, or 0.04 percent, at 2,260.52.
The Commerce Department said orders to U.S. factories for large manufactured goods fell for a second straight month in August, the first time in more than two years there have been consecutive declines. Demand for durable goods dropped 0.5 percent last month to $209.7 billion.
Some good news came from a report that new home sales rose 4.1 percent in August, their biggest increase in five months. The Commerce Department report raised hopes that a sharp decline in the housing industry could be easing.
A barrel of light crude was quoted up 59 cents at $61.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.57 percent from 4.58 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Good news for several Dow components was helping the average Wednesday. McDonald's Corp. rose 71 cents to 39.77 after saying it would boost its dividend 49 percent to $1 from 67 cents.
Another Dow component, Merck & Co., had another legal victory Tuesday in its legal battle over the painkiller Vioxx. A federal jury determined after a two-week trial that there wasn't sufficient evidence to link Vioxx to a Kentucky man's heart attack in 2003. Though it was a win for Merck, thousands of cases are still pending over the drug. Merck was up 12 cents at $41.88.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 164.1 million shares, compared with 175.1 million traded at the same point Tuesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 1.20, or 0.16 percent, at 730.81.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 2.51 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.82 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.25 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 0.06 percent.
Bush's fault.
HOOVER: "They DIMS keep trying to channel me but I'm not answering..."
Yep, we are struggling out of that worst economy in 70 years the dems were screeching about in 2004.
This explains the distraction being created by the Billy Goat's Gruff and Hildebeast !
This will be tough on the Clinton "legacy". I am glad W will have the bragging rights on this because we had to hear how great Clinton's economy was.
The DJIA is now less than 10 points from an all-time high!
Opened at 11,720, down to 11,713.
You're right. It's Bush's fault.
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