Stocks Mixed Again; Dow Rises a Fraction

The stock market had another case of the summer doldrums Thursday with prices finishing mixed in lackluster trading. Retail, mining and oil issues were among the gainers, while computer, chemical, airline and drug stocks retreated.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials edged up 0.78 to 1,317.76 after being up nearly 4 points early in the day. The average has risen for three consecutive days but has gained only 3.47 points over the period.

Advances and declines were nearly even on the New York Stock Exchange, whose composite index slipped 0.03 to 108.59.

Big Board volume totaled 86.10 million shares, against 85.78 million Wednesday.

Market Struggling

The session extended the market’s pattern so far this week, in which prices have moved ahead early only to surrender most of the gains later in the day.

The market is struggling to sustain an upturn because Wall Street remains very uncertain about the economy’s outlook, analysts said. Since traders are cautious, they are using any run-up in prices to take profits, which in turn limits the market’s ability to keep a rally going, the analysts said.

Brokers initially thought that a host of government economic reports this week might give the market a stronger sense of direction. But with several of the reports already out, the figures appeared to be having little effect.

Oil stocks moved up and some transportation issues fell after Iraq said its jet fighters demolished Iran’s main oil export terminal at Kharg Island in the northeastern area of the Persian Gulf.

Exxon gained to 51 7/8, Mobil rose to 29 3/8 and Atlantic Richfield was up 3/8 at 59. But Chevron fell 1/8 to 36 7/8.

Greyhound Climbs

In the transportation sector, AMR dropped 1 to 47 3/4, Delta Air fell 5/8 to 48 3/8 and Burlington Northern lost 1 1/2 to 60.

Greyhound jumped 1 to 27 3/4 after saying it planned a major downsizing of its bus unit.

Revlon fell 7/8 to 44 1/2 after spurting 1 1/2 on Wednesday amid speculation that Pantry Pride was considering an offer to acquire Revlon. Pantry Pride was off at 7 3/4.

Novo Industrie’s American depositary receipts plunged 5 7/8 to 27, or 18%, in heavy trading. The Danish maker of insulin preparations and enzymes for industrial uses posted flat second-quarter earnings and said full-year results might trail those of 1984.

Bond prices moved lower, with most of the decline occurring after the Federal Reserve Board reported a larger than expected surge in the nation’s basic money supply.

The report, released at 4:30 p.m. EDT, sent prices of 30-year Treasury bonds lower, while short-term interest rates rose.

In the secondary markets, short-term governments fell point, intermediate maturities were off by between 3/8 point and 3/4 point and long-term issues were down 7/8 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.

The Merrill Lynch daily Treasury index, which measures price movements on all outstanding Treasury issues with maturities of a year or longer, fell 0.18 to 105.61 from Wednesday’s close. The Shearson Lehman daily Treasury bond index, which makes a similar measurement, fell 3.91 to 1,106.85.

In corporate trading, industrials and utilities were off 1/2 point in moderate trading, Salomon Brothers said. Among tax-exempt municipal bonds, general obligations and revenue bonds fell 3/8 point in light activity, it said.

Yields on three-month Treasury bills rose 1 basis point to 7.09%. Six-month bills rose 5 basis points to 7.36%, and one-year bills were up 14 basis points at 7.61%. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds rose to 10.69% from 10.60% late Wednesday.