BLUE-chip stocks pushed backs toward record levels yesterday, halting several days of profit taking as bargain hunters started to nibble at battered technology shares.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average shrugged off an early 26 point deficit and then rallied into the close, jumping back above the 7,000-mark with a gain of 76.58 points and closing at 7,008.20. More than half of the blue-chip barometer's advance came from big gains in Philip Morris, IBM and Merck.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 7 to 5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,508 up, 1,067 down and 799 unchanged.
NYSE volume totalled 459.91 million shares, against 487.08 million in the previous session.
The Standard and Poor's 500 stock list rose 8.51 to 810.28.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 10.93 to 1,345.25, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.78 to 598.07.
