Stocks soared yesterday with two of the major market indices posting new highs, as Wall Street got ready to ring in the Christmas holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 157.57 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 9,202.03. In the broader market, advances beat declines 18 to 10 on active volume of 694 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 51.58 points, or 2.4 per cent, to a record 2,172.56. The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 24.97 points, or 2 per cent, to 1,228.54, its third consecutive day of highs.

America Online jumped $15 1/8 to $138 on news late Tuesday that it would join the benchmark blue chip Standard & Poor's 500 Index.