Stocks Edge Higher; Dow Rises 0.90
The stock market advanced slightly in active trading Friday, extending its recent move to new highs despite periodic bouts of profit taking.
The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 0.90 to a new closing high of 1,338.60, bringing its gain for the week to 4.15 points.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 120.26 million shares, against 122.79 million Thursday.
Analysts said the market was confronted with a mixture of favorable and not-so-favorable economic and financial news.
Before the opening, the Labor Department reported that the producer price index of finished goods was about unchanged in June, indicating that inflationary pressures remained subdued.
Separately, the Commerce Department said retail sales dropped 0.8% last month.
Brokers said the weakness in retail sales might ordinarily have been taken as a possible portent of further relaxation of the Federal Reserve’s credit policy. But lately the Fed also has had to consider rapid monetary growth in plotting its course.
Late Thursday it reported a $4-billion jump in the basic measure of the money supply for the week ended July 1.
Trans World Airlines was actively traded, up 3/4 at 21 7/8 on turnover of more than 1.3 million shares. There was speculation on Wall Street that a new bidder might come forward for the company, which has agreed to be acquired by Texas Air in order to forestall a hostile takeover effort by financier Carl C. Icahn.
Other airline issues were mostly higher, aided by Mexico’s reduction of its oil prices this week. UAL gained 1 to 56 3/4, AMR 1 7/8 to 50 3/8 and Delta Air Lines 7/8 to 52 1/2.
Energy issues were narrowly mixed.
Union Carbide, discussed as a possible takeover candidate, rose 3/8 to 48 7/8 on top of a 1 5/8-point gain Thursday. The company said it knew of no corporate development to explain the activity.
Computervision dropped 3/4 to 14 7/8. The company said it had laid off about 100 employees recently for “cost-cutting and streamlining” purposes.
Bank and savings and loan issues were mostly lower with hopes ebbing for any Fed moves soon to ease credit. Citicorp lost 1 1/8 to 50 1/2, Chase Manhattan 1 3/8 to 62, J. P. Morgan 1 3/8 to 52 3/4, H. F. Ahmanson 1 1/2 to 33 3/4 and Great Western Financial 3/8 to 29.
In the bond market, prices finished mixed, bouncing back from the day’s lows on news of the continued weakness in the economy.
Bond prices had opened lower in the wake of Thursday’s report of the larger-than-expected rise in the nation’s basic money supply.
In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments fell 2/32 point, intermediate maturities slipped 1/8 point and long-term issues were off 7/32 point.
Meanwhile, yields on three-month Treasury bills were unchanged at 7.12%. Six-month bills rose 1 basis point to 7.24%, and one-year bills were unchanged at 7.35%.
