WALL Street stocks surged into record territory yesterday as the prospect of cheaper fuel, with the resumption of Iraqi oil sales, reinforced optimism about steady US inflation and interest rates. The Dow Jones hit its first new record since early April and its first close above 5700.

The announcement that Iraq and the United Nations had signed an agreement to let Saddam Hussein sell oil to buy food and medicine for his suffering people, is expected to reduce petrol prices worldwide. Rising energy prices had been a leading culprit in the recent financial market inflation jitters.

Both the NYSE's composite index and the Standard and Poor's 500 stock list reached their second consecutive record close at 361.09 and 673.15 respectively. The Nasdaq composite index rose 5.16 to 1,247.04 and the American Stock Exchange's market value index rose 4.15 to 609.36 the third straight new high for both indexes.