The world's leading technology companies propelled the Nasdaq composite index to within a point of a new closing record yesterday, capping a quiet session on Wall Street that left most US stocks with only slim gains.
The Dow Jones closed at 10,823.90 on a gain of 20.27 points, while the Nasdaq was up 16.53 points at 2,886.15. Its all-time high of 2,887.06 was reached on September 10th. The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.11 to 1,335.53.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,763 down, 1,189 up and 542 unchanged.
NYSE volume totalled 564.95 million shares, against 842.63 million in the previous session.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1.25 to 433.20.
The renewed strength in technology shares provided a rare spark in one of the quietest sessions of the year. Many Wall Street professionals were off work for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.
