Stocks Broadly Higher; Dow Sets Record Again
The stock market staged a broad advance Friday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to a record closing high for the fifth time in the past eight sessions.
The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, down more than 4 points at midday, finished with a 4.82 gain at 1,404.36. That topped the previous high of 1,403.44 set Wednesday. For the week, the average was up 14.11 points.
The nation’s stock and commodities markets will be open as usual on Monday, which is Veteran’s Day. Most banks and the Federal Reserve system will be closed, which means the currency and credit markets will be shut.
Friday’s volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 114.96 million shares, against 118.95 million on Thursday.
Analysts said the market paused Thursday and early Friday to absorb selling by traders eager to cash in profits from the market’s recent advance. But they said there appeared to be nothing in the economic news to disturb hopes for lower interest rates and a pickup in economic growth in 1986.
American Standard climbed 1 1/2 to 32 in active trading. Late Thursday, the company announced plans to sell several of its businesses and give greater emphasis to its building products operations.
Mattel dropped 3/8 to 12 3/8 on top of a 2-point loss Thursday, when the company reported lower third-quarter operating earnings.
Regional telephone issues had a notably strong day, apparently benefiting from hopes for lower interest rates. Nynex rose 1 3/8 to 89 3/4, Ameritech 1 to 96 1/2, Southwestern Bell 1 1/8 to 80, U.S. West 1 1/8 to 80 1/2 and Bell Atlantic 1 3/4 to 95.
Raychem climbed 2 3/8 to 78 1/2. The company said it wasn’t involved in any merger or buy-out negotiations and couldn’t explain the activity.
International Flavors & Fragrances, up 2 at 36, also said it knew of no reason for the rise in its stock price.
In the bond market, prices rose and interest rates declined amid some speculation that the Federal Reserve Board will loosen credit conditions to help the economy.
During the session came a prediction from Salomon Bros. chief economist Henry Kaufman that the central bank may soon reduce the discount rate to 7% from 7.5%.
Kaufman said in his weekly “Comments on Credit” that a “tilting toward additional accommodation” in monetary policy may be in the offing, based on the “tenor” of Fed Chairman Paul A. Volcker’s letter to a congressional committee this week.
In the secondary market for Treasury securities, prices of short-term governments rose 5/32 point, intermediate maturities advanced between 6/32 and 9/32 point and long-term issues went up from 12/32 and 15/32 point, according to Salomon Bros.
The Merrill Lynch daily Treasury index, which measures price movements on all outstanding Treasury issues with maturities of a year or longer, rose 0.27 to 107.84. The Shearson Lehman daily Treasury bond index, which makes a similar measurement, rose 2.57 to 1,131.03.
In corporate trading, industrials and utilities rose point in light trading.
Yields on three-month Treasury bills dropped 9 basis points to 7.21%. Six-month bills went down 6 basis points to 7.28%, and one-year bills fell 7 basis points to 7.29%. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
