Market Drifts; Dow Ekes Out a Gain of 1.76

Stock prices closed mixed Thursday in a session that mirrored the indecisive activity of the day before.

The Dow Jones industrial index rose 1.76 to 2,471.94.

Declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Big Board volume totaled 163.67 million shares, against 174.65 million Wednesday.

Trading mimicked Wednesday’s session as the market opened stronger and then slipped back with the Dow index trading in a narrow range the rest of the day.

In the credit markets, government bond prices closed little changed amid skittishness over a potentially heavy supply of new issues that will hit the market once Congress lifts the debt ceiling.

Corporate issues were unchanged while municipals ended mixed.

The Treasury’s 30-year bond rose 3/32 point, or about $1 for every $1,000 in face value. Its yield fell to 8.775% from 8.787% on Wednesday.

In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments edged up 1/32 point, intermediate maturities rose between 1/32 point and 5/32 point, and 20-year issues lost 1/16 point, according to Telerate.

In corporate trading, industrials and utilities were unchanged in moderate trading, according to the investment firm Salomon Bros.

Among tax-exempt municipal bonds, general obligations rose point in light activity, while revenue bonds fell 1/8 point in light trading.

Yields on three-month Treasury bills, meanwhile, rose 3 basis points to 5.66%. Six-month bills rose 4 basis points to 5.86%, and one-year bills were unchanged at 6.25%. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

The federal funds rate, the overnight interest charged on loans between banks, was quoted at 6.56%, up from 6.50%.