Late Rally Boosts Dow 8.16 Points

NEW YORK — The stock market advanced today when a late rally capped a lackluster session.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials gained 8.16 points to 2,662.62.

Advancing issues outnumbered losers by about 6 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 823 up, 681 down and 479 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 155.74 million shares, against 141.27 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index lost 0.10 to 183.37. At the American Stock Exchange, the market value index closed at 310.58, up 0.73.

Stocks seesawed throughout the day as investors waited for prices to dip slightly before coming off the sidelines. Because investors had accumulated so much cash as the Middle East crisis began to unfold, many are looking for an opportunity to re-enter the market.

“Even minor weakness (in prices) is still tempting,” said Eugene Peroni, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott Inc. in Philadelphia.

Secondary issues performed particularly well, helping to pull up many blue-chip stocks, analysts said.

Although much concern still surrounds the Persian Gulf war, the market is beginning to take a longer-range approach, Peroni said.

“It is not really focusing on the minute-by-minute details from the Middle East” as it had in the opening days of the military conflict, he said.

Stocks drew some support from a firming bond market, where prices rose and interest rates declined.