NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The Dow Jones industrial average celebrated holiday cheer Thursday by extending its bull run in an abbreviated day of trading, with investors settling for modest gains among blue chips as they headed into the Christmas weekend.
The Dow closed 15.96 higher at 9,217.99. Those gains were fueled mainly by blue chips as advances led declines 1,468 to 1,308 on thin trading volume of 250 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the week, the Dow finished up 314.36 points, or 3.53 percent. The Dow is now 16.56-percent higher for the year.
The Nasdaq Composite, which reached a record high in Wednesday trade, lost 9.50 to 2,163.04, though it was 76.90 points, or 3.69 percent, higher for the week. The technology-heavy index is up 37.74 percent for the year.
The S&P 500 index also eased off its record high, slipping 2.27 to 1,226.27. For the week, the S&P gained 38.24 points, a 3.22-percent gain. The index is up 26.36 percent for the year.
The bond market drifted lower amid news of better-than-expected jobless claims and personal spending figures.
The benchmark 30-year Treasury fell 16/32 of a point in price for a yield of 5.22 percent.
The dollar was firmer against both the German mark and the Japanese yen.
Big Blue boosts blue chips
Dow component IBM Corp. (IBM), which climbed 2-15/16 to 187-15/16 after Salomon Smith Barney raised its 12- to 18-month target price to the $210 to $215 range from $185.
Ford Motor Co. (F) edged up 1/2 to 58-7/8 after the No. 2 U.S. automaker said it sold off its 9-percent stake in South Korea's Kia Motors Corp. Ltd.
Computer magazine publisher Ziff-Davis Inc. (ZD) was the most active trader on the Big Board, jumping 4-7/8 to 20-3/4, riding high on its announcement earlier this week that it will spin off its ZDNet Internet business unit in an initial public offering.
Memory-chip maker Micron Technology Inc. (MU) fell 1-3/4 to 52-1/4, despite announcing a first-quarter loss much narrower than analysts had forecast.
Finally, dELiA*s Inc. (DLIA) provided a bright spot among e-commerce shares, soaring 7-1/4 to 18-1/8 after the company announced it has launched an online apparel store on Yahoo! Inc. 's (YHOO) Shopping site. 
-- by staff writer John Frederick Moore
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