Stocks Edge Higher but Rally Slows : Dow Industrials Gain 6.05 in Seesaw Session
Stock prices moved higher Tuesday as a four-day rally sputtered but kept going.
The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 6.05 points to 1,912.12, its highest close since it stood at a record 1,919.71 on Sept. 4. In the last five sessions, the average has gained 85.49 points.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 154.57 million shares, compared to 150.82 million on Monday.
In the credit markets, however, bond prices fell sharply in quiet, pre-holiday trading despite the release of government reports showing sluggish economic growth and low inflation.
The Treasury’s key 30-year bond fell about 3/4 point, or $7.50 per $1,000 face amount, while its yield rose to 7.45% from 7.39% late Monday.
Despite the higher Dow index, the balance of winners to losers on the New York Stock Exchange--which tilted in the losing direction frequently during the day--ended up about even, with advancers outpacing decliners by about 8 to 7. There were 847 issues higher, 717 lower and 435 unchanged.
“There was nothing really fundamental driving the market today. It was a question of technical trading-type activity more than anything else,” said Jack Conlon an analyst at E. F. Hutton.
Seesaw Session
Profit taking dominated the start of what turned out to be a seesaw session, while the rest was “dominated by professional traders (with) little institutional involvement,” he added.
Among the Big Board’s most-active issues, Carter Hawley Hale was up 7 at 50 1/2 after the company received a buyout offer at $55 a share from a partnership composed of Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. and the Limited Inc.
IBM was up 2 1/2 at 127 1/8, General Electric gained 3 1/8 to 83 3/4, USX was down 3/8 at 20 and AT&T; edged down 1/8 to 27.
Gillette was up 1 1/8 at 47 after Monday’s 10 3/4-point plunge following announcement of plans to buy back its stock from Revlon at $55 a share, or $558 million.
Goodyear was up 1 1/8 at 42 7/8. The company said it would take a $150-million charge related to its restructuring program.
