Strong Economic News Boosts Stocks
Stock prices closed out their third straight advancing week with a moderate gain Friday in response to unexpectedly strong economic news.
The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 6.61 to 1,887.80, extending its gain for the week to 32.20 points. In the last three weeks the average has risen 124.16 points.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 118.13 million shares, down from 135.18 million on Thursday.
Before the market opened, the government reported that new factory orders for durable goods rose 4.3% in July--their largest monthly increase in more than a year and a half.
Prices fell and interest rates rose in the bond market. The reaction in the stock market, meanwhile, was some sporadic buying.
Beneficial Corp. led the active list and jumped 28 1/2 to 73 after a delayed opening. Late Thursday the company said it was considering various ways to restructure itself, including a possible acquisition by some other party.
That upward valuation prompted buying in other stocks of companies with finance operations. Household International gained 2 3/4 to 46 and Control Data was up 1 7/8 at 25 3/8.
Frigitronics climbed 3 1/2 to 37. Revlon Group announced a cash tender offer of $35.50 per share for the company’s stock. Revlon shares dropped 5/8 to 14.
Japanese issues chalked up some of the day’s most notable gains. Matsushita climbed 6 1/2 to 100, Hitachi 4 3/8 to 65 7/8 and Honda Motor 5 3/8 to 77, with all three making the list of new 52-week highs. Sony added 1 3/8 to 20 3/8.
USX ranked among the volume leaders, down 1/2 at 19 in trading that included a 1.55-million-share block at 19. The stock rose earlier in the week when a company controlled by Robert Holmes a Court of Australia said it planned to acquire as much as 15% of USX.
Elsewhere among the blue chips, Sears, Roebuck & Co. rose 7/8 to 47 3/4, Du Pont 1 3/8 to 81 7/8, Procter & Gamble 3/4 to 78 3/8 and Eastman Kodak 3/8 to 57.
However, International Business Machines dropped 1/8 to 137 7/8 and General Motors was down 1 at 72 3/4.
In the credit markets, bond prices tumbled and interest rates rose.
Long-term issues posted the sharpest losses, with the bellwether 30-year bond down nearly a point, or $10 per $1,000 face value, to yield 7.27%, compared to 7.20% late Thursday. The 20-year bond fell 13/16 points.
