Stocks Rally, But Dollar, Bonds Slide
Stocks finally managed a mild recovery after four weak days, but bonds and the dollar kept falling.</br></br>After declining every trading day since hitting a record on Aug. 25, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finally rose 108.60 points, or 1.00%, to 10937.88. That leaves the industrials still 3.43% short of last week's 11326.04 record, although up 19.13% for 1999.</br></br>Other stock indexes also managed small advances. But the dollar fell to yet another low since Jan. 11 in late New York trading.</br></br>Bond and stock investors went in opposite directions. Bond investors worried that August payroll and unemployment data due tomorrow could signal a strong economy, pushing the Federal Reserve toward raising interest-rate guidelines again next month. Stock investors bet that interest-rate boosts are about done with, Ned Riley, chief investment officer at BankBoston, said.</br></br>The stock gains were "a precelebration" of Friday's news, he said, adding "people are expecting that the payroll number will be weaker than forecast. They think that the markets will see a better interest-rate environment as we go into the fourth quarter."