Stocks Rise for 5th Day in Row; Dow Up 1.10

The stock market edged upward in late trading Monday, carrying the Dow Jones industrial average to its fifth consecutive gain.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 1.10 to 1,266.78, bringing its rise over the past five sessions to 13.80 points.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange slowed to 80.66 million shares from 86.22 million Friday.

Though the market’s trend since early last week has been upward, its progress has been grudging. Analysts said many investors seemed to be looking ahead to a spate of news due in the next few days rather than making any big commitments now.

The flow of first-quarter earnings reports will begin to reach flood stage soon. And several government reports are expected on the state of the economy.

Perhaps of greatest interest to Wall Street will be the preliminary figure, scheduled to be issued Thursday, on the gross national product for the first three months of the year.

Last month the Commerce Department, in its “flash” estimate, put the inflation-adjusted growth rate for the economy at an annual rate of 2.1%. The figure raised concerns that business activity might be losing momentum.

Expect Better Figure

But there are some projections in the financial world that, with more data to go on, the agency will revise the number upward.

In the credit markets Monday, interest rates on long-term government bonds declined slightly. Rates were little changed on short-term Treasury bills.

G. C. Murphy climbed 3 1/8 to 44 5/8. Ames Department Stores said that it owns, or holds options to buy, about 22% of Murphy’s stock and that it is interested in acquiring the company for a price above $42.50 a share.

Uniroyal was actively traded, up at 20 5/8. The company, which is the subject of a hostile $18-a-share takeover bid by investor Carl Icahn, has said it is seeking other suitors.

Boise Cascade rose 5/8 to 39 3/4. The company reported first-quarter earnings of $1.12 a share, up from 95 cents in the comparable period a year ago.

Lear Petroleum, which estimated a decline of 70% to 80% in its profits for the first quarter, tumbled 1 7/8 to 18 1/8.

American General was the NYSE volume leader, up at 30 3/4 on turnover of more than 1.6 million shares. A 1.2-million-share block of the stock changed hands at 30 5/8.

Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 95.33 million shares.

Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 1,607, compared to 1,797 on Friday.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, traded at 8.438%, unchanged from late Friday.

Bond prices also edged higher. Trading was light.

Short-Term Issues Up

In the secondary market, yields on three-month Treasury bills rose 2 basis points to 8.07%, while six-month bills fell 1 basis point to 8.25% and one-year bills were down 2 basis points at 8.44%. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments rose 2/32 point, intermediate maturities were up 10/32 point and long-term issues were up point, according to the investment firm of Salomon Bros. The movement of a point is equivalent to a change of $10 in the price of a bond with a $1,000 face value.

Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds fell to 11.35% from 11.39% late Friday.

Corporate and municipal bond prices edged up 1/8 point in light activity.