Shares soared as investors went on a Christmas shopping spree.

Two of the market's major indices reached new highs as Wall Street got ready to ring in the Christmas holiday.

The Dow Jones index finished 157.57 points, or 1.7%, higher at 9,202.03 in unexpectedly healthy trading volume of nearly 700m shares.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 51.58 points, or 2.4%, to a record 2,172.56.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 24.97 points, or 2%, to 1,228.54, its third consecutive day of highs.

"There's a uniqueness to this time of year, because there is no tax-related selling plus the economy is really showing some resilience," said Dick Stein of Noble International Investments.

America Online, the world's largest Internet services provider, looked like a runaway train. AOL stock jumped 15 1/8 to 138 on news that it would join the benchmark blue chip Standard & Poor's 500 Index.