Powerful Rally Boosts Dow Above 6,400 Mark

Less than six weeks after its first close above 6,000, the Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 6,400 mark for the first time as stocks advanced broadly in volatile trading Wednesday.

A late wave of profit-taking erased another sharp gain by IBM and other technology bellwethers, but other blue-chip shares picked up the slack.

The Dow industrials rose 32.42 to 6,430.02, the 10th record close in the 11 sessions since Election Day for the barometer of 30 big U.S. companies. The Dow has risen in 12 of the last 13 sessions with a gain of 408.09 points, or nearly 7 percent, over that stretch.

Joe Battipaglia, chief investment strategist at Gruntal & Co., attributed some of the recent strength in technology to upbeat chatter emanating from Comdex, the big computer industry trade show in Las Vegas.

“We’re hearing that apparently PC demand is picking up going into the holiday season. These big companies are picking up in anticipation of that,” he said.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 9-to-7 margin on the NYSE, where volume totaled 489.40 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 454.41 million in Tuesday’s session.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday:

NYSE

Boeing, up 2-3/8 at 96-3/8.

AMR, down 1 at 91.

McDonnell Douglas, up 3/4 at 53-1/8.

American Airlines parent AMR may buy about 100 Boeing jets worth up to $6 billion if its pilots approve a tentative contract deal, sources said.

Caterpillar, up 4-3/4 at 78-3/4.

Smith Barney analyst Tobias Levkovich raised his rating on the heavy equipment maker’s shares to buy from neutral, the Dow Jones News Service reported, citing a contact at the investment firm.

Computer Associates International, up 3-7/8 at 63-7/8.

Alex. Brown & Sons reiterated a strong buy rating for the stock, and noted that the company’s business appears to be very strong, the Dow Jones News Service reported.

NASDAQ

Rawlings Sporting Goods, down 2-1/8 at 8-1/4.

The St. Louis-based company expects to post a modest loss in its first quarter on lower-than-expected sales.

Advanced Tissue Sciences, down 3/8 at 12-3/8.

An advisory panel recommended Tuesday that the FDA approve the company’s Dermagraft-TC, the first product engineered from human cells to help heal life-threatening burns.

Cytyc, up 4-7/16 at 23-7/16.

United HealthCare announced plans to expand its health care coverage to include ThinPrep Pap Test, a new cervical-cancer test developed by Cytyc.