Dow Falls 6.13; Trading Pace Slowest of Year
A Wall Street rally ran out of gas and stocks closed mixed Friday in the lightest trading of the year, capping a loss-riddled week in which investor apathy and concern over higher interest rates dominated the market. Another rise in credit market interest rates to the year’s highest level thwarted the attempt to recover from a midweek setback.
The Dow Jones industrial index fell 6.13 to 1,952.59, just a point above Wednesday’s three-month closing low. Broader market indexes were mixed.
For the week, the Dow lost 37.96 points, or about 2%.
New York Stock Exchange volume totaled 120.6 million shares, down from 165.16 million the previous session. It was the most lethargic pace since a 111.58-million-share day Dec. 29. Without the inflating influence of dividend-capture trading in selected stocks, the volume would have been substantially lighter.
“It’s just a continuation of complete lack of interest by the public,” said John Muldowney, head of equity trading at the Richmond, Va., investment firm of Scott & Stringfellow Inc.
“We continue to see very little institutional buying, although there are some buyers nibbling their way back in,” said Ed Laux, of Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York.
Texaco Drops
“It’s been a pretty dismal week,” Laux added. “There have been a lot more sell orders again, but there’s no urgency for sellers to be doing anything.”
Among the most prominent Big Board issues, Texaco fell 1 3/4 to 47 5/8 on reports that the company was considering a restructuring plan that would reduce the 14.8% stake of its largest shareholder, takeover strategist Carl C. Icahn.
Other notable blue chips included Boeing, up 1 1/2 to 50 1/2; Du Pont, down 3/4 to 80 1/2; IBM, down 1 to 109 1/2; Merck, down 1 3/8 to 149, and Union Carbide, up 1/2 to 18 5/8.
Gainers Top Losers
Interest-sensitive stocks such as banks and utilities were widely higher, suggesting that concern over higher interest rates may be peaking. Chemical Bank rose 3/4 to 26 5/8, American Express gained 1/8 to 23 3/4, Manufacturers Hanover advanced 3/8 to 26 3/8, AT&T; climbed 1/8 to 26 3/4 and US West added 1/2 to 52.
Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 3 to 2 in nationwide trading of NYSE-listed stocks
Nationwide, consolidated volume in NYSE-listed issues, including trading at regional exchanges and on the over-the-counter market, totaled 142.40 million shares.
Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 2,360, compared to 3,197.
The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 2,526.146, up 3.622.
The NYSE index rose 0.29 to 143.30.
Standard & Poor’s index of 400 industrials rose 0.45 to 293.42, and S&P;’s 500-stock composite index also rose 0.45 to 253.02.
At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index fell 0.05 to 291.84. The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market closed at 366.03, down 0.22.
In foreign trading, share prices rose on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday but the early optimism born of Thursday’s rebound on Wall Street faded somewhat by the closing bell. The Nikkei 225-share average closed at 27,393.85, up 20.61.
Share prices on the London Stock Exchange closed higher, but below their best levels Friday as an uncertain start to business on Wall Street reduced London trading volume to a trickle.
The Financial Times 100-share index rose 9.6 to close at 1,770.2.
