Earnings Reports Lift Dow Past 4,300

Stocks raced past another bullish milepost Monday as enthusiasm over corporate profits helped the Dow Jones industrial average close above 4,300.

In reaching its third record in a row, the blue-chip stock gauge finished up 33.89 points, or 0.79 percent, at 4,303.98.

Broader indicators also climbed to new highs. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.08 to 276.84, beating the previous mark of 275.00 set on April 13. Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index rose 4.40 to 512.89. The prior record of 509.23 also was established on April 13.

Advancing Big Board stocks outpaced decliners by about 8 to 5. Volume on the NYSE floor came to 325.74 million shares as of 4 p.m. Eastern time, up from 403.22 million shares in Friday’s session.

The rally occurred while Wall Street rejoiced over robust quarterly results from numerous companies.

A.C. Moore, chief investment officer at the money management firm Dunvegan Associates Inc. in Santa Barbara, Calif., said “positive earnings drove the market.”

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily:

NYSE

Hillhaven Corp., up 3 7/8 to 28 3/8.

Merger news sent the stock higher. Vencor Inc., a large operator of hospitals and other health-care facilities, announced plans to acquire nursing-center company Hillhaven in a stock-swap deal the companies valued at $1.9 billion. Vencor fell 4 3/8 to 32 5/8 on the NYSE.

Chrysler Corp., down 5/8 to 44 1/2.

Directors of the automaker rejected the $55-a-share buyout proposal by Tracinda Corp., a company owned by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.

Telefonos de Mexico, up 1 3/4 to 31 3/8 in NYSE-leading volume of more than 8.7 million shares.

Investor confidence in Mexico improved as the peso strengthened slightly and several prominent corporations reported unexpectedly good quarterly financial results. Other Mexican issues traded in the United States also gained.

NASDAQ

U.S. Healthcare, down 5/8 to 29 1/8.

The company reported first-quarter earnings of $833 million, or 59 cents a share, up from $715.9 million, or 55 cents a share.

Microsoft, up 2 3/4 to 77 3/4.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft this week will announce technology to give its next operating system a performance boost in playing computer games.

AMEX

Kirby, down 2 1/4 to 13 7/8.

The marine transportation company posted unexpectedly low first-quarter earnings of 17 cents a share compared to 10 cents a share a year earlier.