Stock Prices Rise Sharply on News Of Effort to Trim Value of Dollar
Stock prices soared on news of the five-nation program to reduce the value of the dollar against major foreign currencies.</br></br>Many stocks opened sharply higher and held much of those early gains throughout the session. Some issues even advanced a bit more just before the closing bell.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 15 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Traders in New York said much of the initial demand seemed to come from European investors and from professional traders buying back stocks they previously had sold short in anticipation of price declines. The industrial index ended 18.37 points higher at 1316.31, the best one-day advance since late May.</br></br>The broader market barometers also rose impressively. Standard & Poor's 500-stock index soared 2.25 to 184.30, and the New York Stock Exchange composite index moved up 1.12 to 106.51. Gainers far outnumbered losers on the Big Board, 1,074 to 491.</br></br>The Dow Jones Transportation Average gained 8.67 to 658.01, but the utility index lagged, closing up 0.72 at 153.52.