BLUE-chip stocks moved ahead for the third straight session yesterday, rally in technology shares, including pacesetter International Business Machines.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 53.25 points at 6,609.16, having so far regained more than 130 points from last week's sell-off of 215 points.
In the broader market, advancing issues led declines by a small margin on moderate volume of 451 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
Meanwhile, the dollar rose to a four-and-a-half year high against the yen after a Japanese trade official said the weak yen was not entirely negative for Japan's economy.
The dollar also posted gains against the deutschmark and other European currencies.
In European trading, the dollar touched 126.52 yen, its highest level since August 1992, after the Jiji news service quoted Mr Tsutomu Makino, Japan's deputy trade minister, as saying the weak yen was more positive than negative for the country's economy at the moment.
