Posted on: Friday, December 24, 2004
Indexes hit new highs despite weaker dollar
By Michael J. Martinez
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Investors filled with holiday cheer sent Wall Street's major indexes to new multi-year highs yesterday, extending the stock market's winning steak despite a plummeting dollar and signs of weaker consumer spending.
And stocks rose despite a Commerce Department report confirming that Americans have reined in their spending. Consumer spending for November rose 0.2 percent, slightly less than the 0.3 percent Wall Street expected and far less than the 0.8 percent jump in October.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11.23, or 0.1 percent, to 10,827.12.
Broader stock indicators were modestly higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 0.56, or 0.05 percent, at 1,210.13, the best close for the index since Aug. 3, 2001. The Nasdaq composite index gained 3.59, or 0.17 percent, at 2,160.62.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 1.23 billion shares, compared with 1.83 billion on Wednesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 0.91, or 0.14 percent, at 649.37.
In a session that ended with Santa Claus sounding the closing bell, investors looked past the dollar's all-time low against the euro, which rose to $1.3483 against the greenback, surpassing its record high set Dec. 7. Although the weaker dollar raises the possibility of higher inflation, investors saw the U.S. currency's decline as an opportunity to help close the trade deficit, since American goods will be less expensive abroad.
