Dow Ends Week on a High Note, Rises 4.63 for 4th Record in Row

Wall Street stocks edged higher in active trading Friday, chalking up the fourth record of the week and ending a bumper month that saw a gain of more than 150 points.

Aluminum stocks and paper producers provided a good deal of the momentum.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 2,572.07, up 4.63 points from Thursday; up 86.74 points for the week, and up 104.12 points since the rally started after the July 21 close.

Friday’s session was calm, compared to the activity earlier. But bond prices moved lower Friday in dull trading, extending the previous session’s losses.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 181.87 million shares, close to the week’s average of 182.14 million, but about 27 million shares less than Thursday’s session.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrials jumped 27.90 points to close at 2,567.44, its third straight record high. That followed a 19.77-point leap to 2,539.54 on Wednesday, which topped Tuesday’s 25.83-point run to its previous record of 2,519.77.

On the New York Stock Exchange Friday, advancing issues outpaced decliners by about 6 to 5.

Among actively traded blue chip issues, Boeing gained 1 to 53, GTE was up 1 1/2 to 41 3/4 and Union Carbide was up 3/8 at 28 3/8.

Aluminum stocks were particularly attractive Friday as higher commodity prices and better earnings prospects aided them, analysts said. Reynolds Aluminum gained 1 1/8 to 51 3/4, Alcoa rose 2 5/8 to 63 5/8 and Alcan rose 1 1/8 to 35 3/4.

The Treasury’s closely watched 30-year bond was down 11/16 point, or about $7.50 per $1,000 in face amount, while its yield jumped to 8.89% from 8.83% Thursday.

Corporate and municipal issues were mostly unchanged.

While the market failed to react to a strengthening dollar, analysts said prices were negatively affected by a government report showing orders to U.S. factories for manufactured goods climbed 1.7% in June, the biggest advance in three months.

In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments declined about 1/16 point, intermediate maturities fell between 5/32 point and 7/16 point and 20-year issues were down 5/8 point.

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

Among tax-exempt municipal bonds, general obligations were unchanged while revenue bonds rose 1/8 point, Salomon Bros. said. Trading was light.

Yields on three-month Treasury bills were unchanged at 6.05%. Six-month bills were up 1 basis point to 6.14% and one-year bills gained 2 basis points at 6.42%

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, traded late in the day at 6.87%, down from 6.75% Thursday.