Dow Gains 1.07 to Close at 2,027.03 as Wall Street’s Malaise Continues
A feeble Wall Street advance fizzled on profit taking Thursday in another slow trading session, and brokers said they saw little prospect for a significant rally any time soon.
“I think it’s just an apathetic market, I don’t think anybody cares,” said Peter J. DaPuzzo, manager of retail equities at Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc. in New York. “It’s just small swings back and forth on light volume.”
The Dow Jones index of 30 industrial stocks, up more than 11 points early in the session, declined in the final hours and closed with a 1.07 gain to 2,027.03. Anxiety about the economy’s direction and rising interest rates, combined with the growing attractiveness of bonds and money market funds as rival investments, have contributed to the malaise on Wall Street.
Whatever action there was Thursday seemed confined to takeover speculation and dividend-capture strategies. Trading was largely limited to professional investors who locked in small gains by selling late in the day.
“What usually happens in a market like this when it’s so lackluster is that they wind up the rumor mill,” said Philip C. Puccio, senior vice president and manager of institutional trading at Dillon, Read & Co. in New York. “It’s the only thing that gets the adrenaline pumping.”
Some analysts were slightly more optimistic about the market prospects, based on what they called the resilience of prices in the face of disappointing news on the trade deficit earlier this week. That suggested most selling had been drained from the market and buyers could step in.
Paul Campbell, a vice president at Nikko Securities Co. International in New York, said he believed the Dow index “might take a swing at 2,050. But that should about do it.”
Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about a 7-to-6 margin in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks, with 740 issues up, 644 down and 587 unchanged.
Volume on the floor of the NYSE totaled 139.82 million shares, down from 169.50 million in the previous session. Nationwide, consolidated volume in NYSE-listed issues, including trading at regional exchanges and on the over-the-counter market, totaled 159.96 million shares.
Among the most prominent issues, Kroger gained 2 1/2 to 35 on renewed rumors that the supermarket chain was the object of a takeover. Pennwalt rose 2 to 84 after the company agreed to sell its pharmaceutical operations to the British firm Fisons for $450 million.
Other possible acquisition targets included Grow Group, which surged 2 5/8 to 15 5/8, and Lubrizol, which jumped 1 1/2 to 38 1/2.
Upjohn rose 5/8 to 32 3/8 after the company said the government had approved the sale of its anti-baldness drug, minoxidil.
Westinghouse fell 5/8 to 49 5/8. The company agreed to pay an apparent record $35 million to settle an age-discrimination lawsuit.
Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 2,600, compared to 2,723 the previous trading day.
The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 2,606.255, up 4.101 or 0.16% from Wednesday.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei average of 225 selected issues, which rose a hefty 282.31 points Wednesday, fell 49.50 points to close at 28,129.36 Thursday after climbing more than 110 points in earlier trading.
Stock prices finished slightly higher in light trading Thursday on the London stock exchange. The Financial Times 100-stock index, which gained 5.6 points Wednesday, advanced 3.0 points to 1833.9 for the day.
