die Ulasliingfon "Business & finance  
\TEW YORK, Aug. 15ÛÓThe stock market's summer rally, fueled by heavy buying by institutional investors, reached a milestone today as the Dow Jones industrial average dosed at its highest level of the year.</br></br>The widely followed average of 30 industrial stocks jumped 9.13 points to close at 885.84. That was the highest close since Oct. 13, 1978, when the Dow index was at 897.09. The previous 1978 high was 878.72 on April 10.</br></br>A late buying surge today overcame initial weakness in the market. The Dow industrial index fell more that 3 points in the morning hours, but the sagging market reversed itself by afternoon and trading volume picked up as well.</br></br>ÛÓthe basic corporate loan rateÛÓof %-point to a record-tying 12 percent. Analysts said the Federal Reserve also signaled an increase in short-term interest rates.</br></br>"We can now see that investors are more concerned about inflation than they are about interest rates or a recession,Û said Alan C. Poole of Laidlaw, Adams & Peck. He noted that the FedÛªs apparent credit-tightening added strength to the dollar in currency markets. It also was viewed by Wall Street as an inflation-fighting strategy of the Fed, under its new chairman Paul Volcker.