THE Dow Jones industrial average shot towards 7,000 as the Wall Street market rallied into the close.

Broad market indexes also rallied over the last two hours of trading, with the Standard and Poor's 500 list breaking above the 800 mark for the first time.

The advance came without any significant developments on the economic outlook and despite a weak day in the bond market, where interest rates rose slightly as prices edged lower after a less than enthusiastic auction of new US Treasury debt.

"There's no news really to account for this type of behaviour. The market is very spirited," said Mr Alan Ackerman, senior vice president at Fahnestock and Co, calling the advance a follow through to Tuesday's buying.

The technology heavy Nasdaq composite index erased its 26 point retreat of the prior two sessions, with Applied Materials leading the way as the most active issue.