Stock prices closed mostly higher in New York yesterday after a turbulent trading session in which the Dow Jones industrial average changed direction several times but still managed to reach its fourth record high and ended the day 0.5 per cent higher.
High-profile technology stocks, which investors had sold aggressively since Tuesday afternoon, rallied gamely in the final 30 minutes of trading. That pushed the Nasdaq composite index into positive territory.
The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 5.53 to 1,322.91, but the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 14.76 to 2,522.04.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by an 11-to-8 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,781 up, 1,296 down and 489 unchanged. NYSE volume totalled 1.08 billion shares, compared with 949.69 million in the previous session.
The NYSE composite index fell 2.78 to 622.89, but the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 1.81 to 737.93.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.38 to 417.77.
