Stocks rallied to record levels yesterday, with a fresh batch of stronger-than-expected corporate profits and a surge in technology shares pulling Wall Street from its early morning lows.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index and the NYSE composite index were also at record highs.

It rose 8.79 to 1,183.61, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 6 to 2,000.54.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 7-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,732 up, 1.216 down and 578 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 676.45 million shares, compared with 721.91 million in the previous session.

The NYSE composite index rose 4.49 to 599.98, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.42 to 731.81. The Russell 2000 index of companies rose 1.20 to 463.18..