WALL Street stock indexes sprinted to their fourth consecutive highs yesterday, helped by consumer shares, as investors decided households will spend freely for Christmas holiday and into the first quarter of next year.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.78 points to close at 6,255.60, topping Friday's record close.
Last week the stock market celebrated the return of a Republican majority to Congress by driving prices higher. Yesterday consumer related stocks led the Dow further up as investors decided that this week's economic data will not show sufficient inflation to warrant an increase in interest rates.
Advances outnumbered declines by a 7-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,387 up, 1,006 down and 876 unchanged.
NYSE volume totalled 353.96 million shares, against 402.32 million in the previous session.
The Standard and Poor's 500 stock index rose 1.05 to 731.87, and the NYSE's composite index rose 0.51 to 386.83.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 4.06 to 1,261.57, but the American Stock Exchange's market value index fell 0.66 to 579.73.
