The Dow turned in a third straight record close last night after a rally in oil and banking stocks countered profit-taking in technology issues as the bulls indicated they still have the upper hand, analysts said.
"We remain in a very powerful bull market but the intensity of the advance is tiring," said Mr Alfred Goldman, analyst at A. D. Edwards & Sons.
The Dow closed up 0.29 per cent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index settled up 5.07 points at 1085.52, also a third straight record close. Advances led declining issues by 15 to 13 on volume of 633 million shares.
The Nasdaq ended up 98 points, reversing the previous sessions losses and achieving another record closing high.
"It's nice that a pariah group, the energy stocks, are getting a big boost due to the big flip in the price of crude and the fact that they were in a deep oversold condition," Mr Goldman said. NYMEX April oil jumped (dollars) 1.13 to end at (dollars) 14.34 a barrel.
