Dow Index Soars 23.28 to Hit Another Record; Lower Oil Prices Cited

NEW YORK —  The stock market swept ahead to new highs today, extending last week’s rally.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials jumped 23.28 to 1,594.27.

Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about two to one on the New York Stock Exchange.

Big Board volume totaled 145.28 million shares, against 143.51 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index climbed 1.16 to 123.29.

At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index was down 0.79 at 243.08.

Analysts said the market benefited from falling oil prices and favorable signals on the state of the domestic economy.

Factory Orders Increase

The Commerce Department reported this morning that new factory orders increased 2.7% in December, for their biggest gain in more than a year.

Over the weekend, a trade group of purchasing executives issued a report noting “persistent strength” of the economy in January.

One question mark cited by some brokers involved the outlook for interest rates in what appears to be an accelerating expansion of business activity. Optimists on Wall Street believe rates can decline or at least hold steady if inflation remains subdued.

Bond prices rose in early trading as investors shrugged off concerns about the government’s huge borrowing needs this week. Short-term interest rates were mixed.

The Treasury will sell $23 billion of new notes and bonds this week. The Fed will auction $9 billion of three-year notes on Tuesday, $7 billion of $10-year notes on Wednesday and $7 billion of 30-year bonds on Thursday.

In the secondary market for Treasury securities in early trading today, prices of short-term governments fell between 1/32 and 3/32 point, intermediate maturities were unchanged to 7/32 point higher and long-term issues were up point to 11/32 point, according to the investment firm of Salomon Bros.

In corporate trading, industrials and utilities rose 1/8 point in light trading.

Tax-Exempt Bonds Unchanged

Among tax-exempt municipal bonds, general obligations were unchanged and revenue bonds were down 1/8 point. Trading was light.

Yields on three-month Treasury bills were up one basis point to 6.99%. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Six-month bills rose one basis point to 7.06% and one-year bills were unchanged at 7.08%.

Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds were 9.30%.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, traded at 8%.