Stocks Post Scattered Gains; Dow Rises 7.84

The stock market closed out a generally uninspired third quarter of 1985 with some scattered gains Monday.

Trading was fairly active at the outset as Wall Street began operating on an extended daily routine, with the stock exchanges opening at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time rather than 10 a.m.

But a good deal of the early activity was ascribed to the execution of orders that couldn’t be handled last Friday, when the exchanges were closed as Hurricane Gloria passed through the New York area. Later on, the pace of trading slowed.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 7.84 to 1,328.63, finishing September with a net loss of 5.38 points and the third quarter with a net decline of 6.83 points.

Volume Off From Thursday

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 103.62 million shares, against 106.10 million last Thursday.

General Foods climbed 1 3/8 to 118 3/8 following word of Philip Morris’ agreement to acquire the company for $120 a share in the largest merger ever outside the oil industry. Philip Morris dropped 5/8 to 75.

As it did last week, strength in General Foods helped the Dow Jones industrial average turn in a better showing than other, broader market measures. It also stimulated continued trading interest in other food stocks. Beatrice rose 1 3/4 to 37 1/2, International Multifoods 1 1/8 to 35 7/8 and Interstate Bakeries 1/8 to 20 3/4.

Analysts said traders seemed to have been encouraged a bit by some recent economic news.

On Friday, the government reported a trade deficit of $9.9 billion for August. That was the smallest gap between imports and exports so far this year.

On Monday, the Commerce Department said the index of leading economic indicators rose 0.7% in August. The July reading for the index, which is designed to detect future economic trends, was revised upward from an increase of 0.4% to a 0.7% gain.

Richardson-Vicks led the active list and gained 10 to 63 1/2. Unilever U.S. said a federal judge had issued a preliminary injunction restraining Richardson-Vicks from issuing a new preferred stock proposed in response to Unilever’s bid to acquire the company.

Speculation of Higher Offer

Brokers also said there was speculation that a higher offer for the company might be impending.

Pacific Lumber gained 6 to 39 on word that Maxxam Group plans a bid for the company.

The daily tally on the Big Board showed advances slightly outnumbering declines. The exchange’s composite index of more than 1,500 common stocks rose 0.37 to 105.19.

Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 126.73 million shares.

Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 2,074, compared to 2,061 last Thursday.

Standard & Poor’s index of 400 industrials gained 0.98 to 203.67, and S&P;’s 500-stock composite index was up 0.78 at 182.08.

The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 1,871.225, up 5.287.

Indexes Gain

The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market added 0.32 to 280.33.

At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index closed at 222.31, up 0.42.

In the bond market, prices were mixed as the government released its report on leading indicators.

Yields on short-term Treasury securities rose sharply in Monday’s auctions following two weeks of declines.