Holiday Rally Continues With 29-Point Dow Gain
NEW YORK. Dec. 24ÛÓBlue chip stocks jumped nearly 29 points today, adding to Monday's Christmas rally of 88 points, as investors reckoned that lower interest rates will fire up the economy.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average ended a holiday-shortened session with a gain of 28.40 points to close at 3050.98. The Dow had jumped earlier to 3077.37, edging through its record closing high of 3,077.15 on Oct. 18.</br></br>Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was active at 162 million shares. The market closed at 2 p.m. EST, two hours early, because of the Christmas holiday.</br></br>Analysts were surprised at the strong volume in a shortened session and said it illustrated that the rally, which has seen the Dow rise more than 116 points this week, is not merely a reaction to the rate cut.</br></br>ÛÏWe're setting up for the real thing this time,Û said Elaine Garzarelli of Shearson Lehman Brothers, noting . that stocks have rallied several times this year on hopes of an economic upturn, only to retreat on disappointing data.