Stocks Mostly Mixed; Dow Up 8.86
Stock prices were mixed Monday in a session marked by tentative buying of blue chips after last week’s stunning decline.
Trading slowed from the record-setting pace of last Thursday and Friday as investors watched to see whether the market could stabilize.
The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, down an unprecedented 141.03 points last week, rose 8.86 to 1,767.58. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange dropped off to 155.62 million shares from 240.49 million on Friday.
Analysts said talk had revived that the Federal Reserve might cut its discount rate again this fall, perhaps acting in coordination with central banks in Japan and West Germany.
Prices rose and interest rates fell in the bond market, which had lately taken a battering nearly as bad as the one suffered by the stock market last week.
Beyond that, brokers said some traders were buying on the belief that last week’s declines had been excessive, pushing prices of many stocks to “bargain” levels.
Auto issues gained ground on word of a 36.9% jump in domestic car sales for early September, which indicated that promotional financing offers were serving the purpose of clearing out inventories in the industry. General Motors rose 1/2 to 68 3/4, Ford Motor 1 to 54 and Chrysler to 37 5/8.
Strong Energy Sector
Among other actively traded blue chips, Exxon gained 1 3/4 to 67 3/4, Sears, Roebuck 3/8 to 40 1/8 and American Telephone & Telegraph to 23, while International Business Machines fell 3/8 to 137.
Exxon headed a strong energy sector, with Amoco up 1 at 65, Occidental Petroleum up 1 at 28, Atlantic Richfield up 1 5/8 to 56 7/8 and Chevron up 3/8 at 43 5/8.
E. F. Hutton Group dropped 3 to 41. The stock moved up in the midst of last week’s falling market on takeover speculation.
Detroit Edison was the volume leader, down 1/8 at 17 3/8 on turnover of more than 9 million shares. The activity was attributed to trading by investing institutions seeking to capture the company’s forthcoming quarterly dividend.
Declining issues slightly outnumbered advances in the overall tally on the NYSE.
The credit markets managed a halfhearted comeback, with prices of some government securities recovering part of the losses suffered last week. Corporate and municipal issues also improved.
The Treasury’s key 30-year issue, which had fallen for most of the past two weeks, rose 3/4 point, or about $7.50 per $1,000 in face amount. It yielded 7.64%, down from 7.70% late Friday.
In corporate trading, industrials were traded actively, gaining 1/2 point, while utilities rose 1/2 point in much quieter activity.
