Dow Up 11; Index Sets Mark for 1-Week Rise
Stock prices managed a modest gain in quiet, seesaw trading Friday--but it was enough to boost the Dow Jones industrials to a surprising record one-week advance.
A late buying flurry nudged the Dow Jones industrial index 11.60 points higher to 1,867.04, making the week’s total gain 100.3 points.
This surpassed the previous all-time best of 93.43 points achieved in the week ended Aug. 14 this year, according to the New York Stock Exchange.
The figure appeared less dramatic, however, from the perspective of the extraordinary volatility of the market lately. Last week, the index fell 143.74 points.
The market moved erratically through Friday’s session, showing indecisiveness over how to handle the disappointing $17.63-billion trade shortfall announced Thursday. But the late flurry showed it was ready to regain the momentum of earlier in the week.
Despite some selling late Thursday, analysts said the market impressed many traders with a relatively calm response to the news of a record U.S. trade deficit in October that far exceeded most advance estimates.
When the market absorbs bad news without significant damage, many investors interpret it as a sign that stocks may be ripe for a rally.
A pair of economic reports issued Friday morning were also generally seen in a positive light.
The Labor Department said the producer price index of finished goods was unchanged in November, and the Commerce Department reported a 0.2% rise in retail sales for the same month.
On the Big Board, Texaco climbed 3 7/8 to 35 7/8 and Pennzoil jumped 6 3/4 to 79 3/4 on reports that negotiators were close to filing a plan for a settlement of the two companies’ long legal battle.
American Telephone & Telegraph, which said its earnings for 1987 would be better than it had expected, edged up to 27 3/8.
Among other actively traded blue chips, Exxon gained 1 to 39, General Electric rose 7/8 to 43 5/8 and American Express edged up to 21 3/4. But International Business Machines slipped 7/8 to 110 1/8.
A. H. Robins fell 1 1/2 to 14. A federal judge ruled that the company must set aside about $700 million more than Robins had proposed to pay claims relating to its Dalkon Shield contraceptive device.
Church’s Fried Chicken rose 7/8 to 6 7/8. A group including members of the Bass family of Fort Worth said it had acquired an 8.2% stake in the company for investment purposes.
Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 5 to 4 in the daily tally of New York Stock Exchange-listed issues. Big Board volume totaled 151.68 million shares, down from 188.96 million on Thursday.
The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 2,287.329, up 14.314.
The NYSE’s composite index of all its listed common stocks added 0.73 to 131.80.
Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 173.91 million shares.
Standard & Poor’s index of 400 industrials rose 2.13 to 271.27, and S&P;’s 500-stock composite index was up 1.75 at 235.32.
The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market gained 1.76 to 302.57. At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index closed at 242.72, up 1.68.
Stock prices rose on the London Stock Exchange, with the Financial Times index of 100 leading shares rising 32 points to close at 1,651.6.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei stock index of 225 selected issues, fell 245.03 points to finish at 23,035.81.
