Stock Prices Edge Higher in Quiet Trading : Many Investors Await 2nd-Quarter GNP Report

The stock market eked out a small gain Tuesday in the slowest trading in more than five weeks as Wall Street awaited the latest reading on the pace of the economy.

The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials edged up 2.14 to 2,073.97, while advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 9 to 8 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Big Board volume dropped to 121.96 million shares from 215.14 million traded Monday and the smallest total since a 116.75 million-share day on June 20.

Traders said a sharp fall in commodity futures prices and a steady dollar failed to rouse the interest of investors, who largely stayed sidelined.

Report Negative

“The market looks as if the level of interest has remained close to zero,” said Alfred Goldman, technical market analyst at A. G. Edwards & Co.

The Commodity Research Bureau’s index of futures, which is widely watched as an inflation gauge, fell a steep 8.11 to 245.52. However, traders noted that bond prices barely reacted.

Analysts said a report that new orders for durable goods in June rose 8.8% was initially negative for the market, sending stocks lower in early trading, but investors later realized that a huge proportion consisted of aircraft orders.

“On the surface it was a shock,” Goldman said. Still, the data, he said, “is another sign business is perking along, and right now good news is considered bad news.”

Analysts said many investors were avoiding making big commitments before the Commerce Department’s report due out today on second-quarter gross national product.

Private estimates generally call for inflation-adjusted GNP growth to come in at about the same 3.6% annual rate reported for the first quarter.

Could Increase Jitters

Anything much higher than that might intensify worries about inflation and higher interest rates, brokers said.

While the overall market made little progress, many individual issues went their own ways responding to corporate earnings reports.

USX, for example, fell 1 to 30 1/8 amid some evident disappointment over the size of its second-quarter earnings gain. Per-share profit increased to 74 cents from 56 cents in the 1987 period.

Phillips Petroleum rose 1/2 to 17 in active trading. The company reported sharply higher earnings for the second quarter.

Sears Roebuck, on the other hand, dropped to 35 5/8 as the company posted slightly lower quarterly profits.

Armtek was one of the most actively traded issues on the Big Board, rising 2 7/8 to 35 1/2. The company said the recent early termination of Mark IV Industries’ Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period for its proposed acquisition of Armtek helped lift its stock price.

IBM was up to 122 5/8. It introduced 10 new mainframe computer models, including what it called the most powerful general purpose computer in the industry. In addition, the Transportation Department late Monday said it awarded a $3.6-billion contract to IBM to produce an advanced automation system for air traffic control.

Microsoft Declines

Polaroid, which said it would consider Shamrock Holdings’ unsolicited $40-a-share offer, was up 1 1/8 to 41. Traders said rumors that Fuji Photo Film Co. was ready to launch a bid for the firm also sent the stock higher.

Microsoft fell 2 1/2 to 58 in over-the-counter trading. The company reported higher quarterly profits, but the results evidently fell short of many investors’ expectations.

Cadnetix, another OTC issue, tumbled 1 5/8 to 5. The company, which produces specialized computer workstations, said its fiscal quarter ended June 30 came in at about the break-even level.

Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 0.51 to 265.19, while the broad-based NYSE composite index rose 0.29 to 150.03.

The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 2,651.598, up 3.026.

The NASDAQ composite index fell 1.33 to 385.79; the American Stock Exchange index closed at 304.64, down 0.04.

In foreign trading, the Nikkei stock index closed at 27,303.76, up 120.23, on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

On the London Stock Exchange, the Financial Times 100-share index fell 0.8 to close at 1,837.7.