Stocks Surge, Sending Dow Index Up 34.01

Blue-chip issues, which had been lagging behind while the rest of the market pushed ahead last week, scored some impressive catch-up gains Monday.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials jumped 34.01 points to 1,261.37, putting the average at its highest level in more than a year.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange stepped up to 146.83 million shares from 104.72 million Friday.

Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 169.99 million shares.

Standard & Poor’s 500-stock composite index gained 3.91 to 175.23, and the Big Board’s composite index of all its listed common stocks rose 2.08 to 101.12, closing above 100 for the first time.

Stock prices opened strong Monday morning and gathered momentum as the session progressed.

IBM Leads List

International Business Machines led the parade of blue chips, adding 4 1/8 points to 128. Among the volume leaders, General Electric gained 2 7/8 to 63 3/8, General Motors 2 3/8 to 82 5/8, American Telephone & Telegraph 1/2 to 21 and American Express 1 1/8 to 39 1/8.

All 15 of the most-active NYSE issues rose in price--12 of them by more than a full point.

Among securities-industry stocks, Phibro-Salomon gained 2 to 37, First Boston 1 1/2 to 58, Merrill Lynch 1 3/8 to 30 and E. F. Hutton 1 1/2 to 32 3/8.

Point-plus gains were also widespread among bank, oil and pharmaceutical issues.

In the daily tally on the Big Board, advancing issues outnumbered declines by almost four to one.

Standard & Poor’s index of 400 industrials rose 4.88 to 196.13.

The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market picked up 3.36 to 266.41.

At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index closed at 215.69, up 4.60.

The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 1,792.169, up 34.987.

More Block Trades

Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 2,986, compared to 2,119 on Friday.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, was 8%, unchanged from late Friday.

Municipal bond prices rose and corporates were unchanged in light to moderate trading.

One reason trading was light was that the government securities market and the New York Federal Reserve Bank were closed in observance of the birthday of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The regular weekly auction of Treasury bills was also postponed until today.

In the market for corporate bonds, industrials and utilities were unchanged, according to the investment firm of Salomon Bros. Inc.

Among tax-exempt issues, general obligations and revenue bonds each rose point, or $2.50 for each $1,000 in face value.