Blue chips lead fourth session gain

Blue-chip stocks lifted the Standard and Poor's 500 index to a second straight record in New York yesterday, but the broad market was weighed down by profit-taking in the technology group and another dismal showing by smaller-company shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55.61 points - or by 0.6 per cent - to 9,044.46, pushing its winning streak to four sessions and about 250 points.

There was little reaction when Federal Reserve officials, as expected, concluded one of their scheduled meetings without another cut in lending rates.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.73 to 1,203.57, extending this year's gain to 24.1 per cent.