Dow's Rally Toward 9th-straight Record Belies Weak Market Breadth

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33 points in afternoon trade, putting it on track for a ninth-straight record close, but market internals suggested the overall stock market was in decline. The number of declining stocks outnumbered advancers by a 1,725-to-1,108 margin on the NYSE, and by a score of 1,613 to 963 on the Nasdaq exchange. Volume in advancing stocks represented 35.1% of total NYSE volume and 42.5% of total Nasdaq volume. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%. Within the Dow, 15 of 30 components traded higher, but all the Dow's gains are in effect coming from two stocks. The $3.20-gain in DuPont & Co.'s stock and the $1.86-rise in 3M Co. shares are adding a combined 35 points to the Dow's price. The Dow has now rallied 723 points, or 3.6%, over the past nine session.