Stocks Rebound With Small Gain; Dow Up 5
The stock market rebounded from the declines of the past couple of sessions with a modest rally Friday.
Bond prices also advanced broadly, as a key short-term interest rate fell.
Trading slowed on the eve of the long Memorial Day weekend.
The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 5.26 to 1,301.97, stretching its gain for the week to 16.63 points.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange dropped off to 85.97 million shares from 101 million Thursday.
Interest rates moved lower in the credit markets. Prices of long-term government bonds, which rise when rates fall, gained about $5 for every $1,000 in face value.
Falling rates have been cited as a primary force behind the monthlong rally in stock prices that carried the market to record highs early this week.
Otherwise, analysts said investors were generally in no rush to make commitments with several unsettled questions on their minds.
Congress’ work on a measure to narrow the federal budget deficit is about to enter its most important stage, with a conference committee tackling the task of reconciling bills from the House and Senate.
Next Tuesday, President Reagan is scheduled to make a formal presentation of his revised plan for tax reform. Many details of the proposal have already surfaced, but it remains to be seen what reception the package will get from Congress and the public.
Brokers also said trading activity was reduced a bit as some market participants got an early start on the Memorial Day weekend.
Upjohn climbed 1 1/2 to 110. The stock has been rising sharply of late amid excitement on Wall Street over a drug for which the company is seeking regulatory approval to sell as a treatment for baldness.
Separately, the company said that the Food and Drug Administration had given it approval to market another drug, for treatment of arthritis, in an increased tablet strength.
Smithkline Beckman, which said it got FDA clearance to market a new anti-arthritis drug, gained 2 5/8 to 70.
Airline stocks were generally strong, led by UAL, up 2 3/8 at 49.
In the daily tally on the Big Board, about five issues rose in price for every four that lost ground. The exchange’s composite index of all its listed common stocks added 0.40 to 108.87.
Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 99.97 million shares.
The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 1,937.735, up 6.318.
Standard & Poor’s index of 400 industrials rose 0.70 to 208.74, and S&P;’s 500-stock composite index was up 0.69 at 188.29.
The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market slipped 0.01 to 292.14.
At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index closed at 230.07, up 0.60.
Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 1,676, compared to 1,901 on Thursday.
In the credit markets, the federal funds rate--the interest on overnight loans between banks--traded at 7.438%, down from 7.875% late Thursday.
The nation’s stock and commodity exchanges will be closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day. Banks, government offices and many businesses will also be closed. The Times will not publish a Business section on Monday but will include the regular Monday Business features in editions of Tuesday, May 28.
