Industrials Advance 26.94 Points, Led by Rises in Bonds and Dollar
Stock prices rallied in moderate pre-holiday trading, following a higher bond market and a firmer dollar.</br></br>In keeping with tradition, the stock market broke out of its bearish mood of the past two days, and prices advanced before the long Fourth of July weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 18 points in the first few minutes of trading, boosted by an influx of buy orders from foreign investors, traders said.</br></br>The flurry of buying interest faded after the first hour, but the industrial average held on to its early gains. Trading perked up in late afternoon and the blue-chip average extended its gains to finish up 26.94 at 2436.70.</br></br>The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 2.69 to 305.63, and the New York Stock Exchange composite index moved up 1.31 to 171.83.</br></br>On the Big Board, gainers outnumbered losers by a 9-to-5 count. Despite the price advance, volume again contracted, to 154.9 million shares from 157 million shares Wednesday.