Broader Rally Helps Dow to Its Milestone

This time, it’s for keeps.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed past 10,000 on Monday and finally had enough momentum to stay above the milestone through the closing bell. The 103-year-old index closed at 10,006.78, up 184.54 points, and the floor of the New York Stock Exchange began a long-awaited celebration.

NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and John Prestbo, index editor for Dow Jones & Co., banged the gavel symbolizing the close of the trading day and then began tossing baseball caps with “Dow 10,000” embroidered on the front.

Traders on the floor obliged a crowd of TV camera operators, photographers and reporters with about a minute of applause.

The Dow’s staying power was helped by an expansion of Wall Street’s recent rally to a broader range of stocks. It wasn’t just the large, big-name companies that gained; smaller companies and lesser-known names finally started to join the upward trend after some prolonged weakness.

Broad-market indexes had big gains Monday, reflecting how democratic the rally was.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 27.37 points to 1,310.17, and the Nasdaq composite, which represents many technology stocks and small to medium-sized companies, rose 73.67 points to 2,492.84.

The NYSE composite index rose 10.81 points to 613.16. And although the American Stock Exchange composite index eased 0.86 point to 717.88, the Russell 2,000 index, reflecting the performance of smaller companies, rose 5.84 points to 399.76.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by an 8-5 margin on the NYSE. Consolidated volume was moderate.

Among the highlights:

* IBM contributed most to the Dow’s final push, rising $5.50 to $177.88. Analysts said the world’s biggest computer maker is getting more of its profit from software and services, where sales are rising faster than in its traditional computer business.

* The market was buoyed by merger news, including a possible deal between oil companies BP Amoco and Atlantic Richfield. Arco advanced $8.69 to $74.06; BP rose $4.63 to $105.

Unconfirmed talk that Glaxo Wellcome and Bristol Myers-Squibb were discussing a deal pushed drug stocks higher. Glaxo Wellcome gained $2.44 to $64.25, while Bristol Myers-Squibb rose $2.69 to $62.19.

* Other oil stocks rose amid the BP-Arco speculation. Texaco rose $2.19 to $57.75, Unocal rose $1.06 to $36.88, Chevron rose $2.81 to $89.63 and Phillips Petroleum gained $2.44 to $48.06.

Market Roundup, C13