Dow Climbs 24 Points in Light Trading : Analysts Largely Discount Rebound, Citing Slow Pace

The stock market Arallied Monday, carrying through on a rebound that began last week at three-month lows. However, trading was so light that most analysts saw little substance in the advance.

The Dow Jones industrial index advanced 24.00 points to close at 2,041.43. The index dropped below 2,000 last Tuesday before beginning its recovery.

Advancing issues outnumbered declines by nearly 2 to 1 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks.

Volume on the floor of the Big Board, at 99.28 million shares, was the second slowest of the year, surpassing only last Friday’s figure of 89.24 million.

Interest rates dropped a bit in the government bond market Monday, giving stock prices a lift. But it was the plodding pace of the session, rather than the price action, that dominated conversations on Wall Street.

While the holding of the 2,000-mark last week was viewed as a plus, analysts were reluctant to declare a market turnaround on such thin volume. They noted that a lack of trading activity tends to produce sharp swings in stock prices, especially in the blue chip segment. The slow trading pattern is expected to persist until at least after the Labor Day holiday on Monday.

“One of the significant things is the pretty decent rally in the bond market over the last few days. That provided investors with some hope,” said James Boham, market analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co.

In the economic news, the center of attention during the week is likely to be the government’s monthly report on the employment situation, which isn’t due out until Friday.

Blue Chip Gainers

Stock market bulls will be looking for the data to show a slowing in employment growth, which would give the Federal Reserve less reason to pursue its recent policy of tightening credit.

Gainers among the blue chips Monday included American Express, up 7/8 at 29 1/8; International Business Machines, up 1 1/8 at 113 3/8; Coca-Cola, up 1/2 at 40, and Exxon, up 1/2 at 46 3/4.

First Boston gained 1 1/8 to 44 5/8. The investment banking firm and its primary shareholder, Credit Suisse, said they were discussing a buyout of the First Boston stock in public hands.

Foodmaker Inc. jumped 7 1/8 to 18 7/8 to post the day’s best percentage gain among Big Board issues. The company said it agreed to be taken private by an investment group for $19.125 a share.

Ethyl Corp., subject of favorable comment by a mutual fund manager quoted in Barron’s weekly, added 1 1/8 to 21 1/2.

Essex Chemical Corp. was up 7/8 to 34 1/8, after it rejected a bid from Gurit-Huberlein and speculation arose over another sweetened bid.

Irving Bank rose 2 3/8 to 69 5/8. Banca Commerciale Italiana dropped its offer to acquire the New York company, leading to speculation that another long-time suitor, Bank of New York Co., would step up with a sweetened offer.

American Cyanamid Co. rose 1 3/4 to 47 1/2 on a published report that Ronald O. Perelman’s Revlon Group may be interested in buying it. Rumors that Revlon might be planning a bid for paper maker Kimberly-Clark drove its shares up 1 7/8 to 56 5/8.

Stocks Drop in Tokyo

Technology stocks made a comeback. Among the strongest were Digital Equipment, up 1 1/8 to 94 5/8, and Hewlett-Packard Co, ahead 7/8 to 47.

Scotty’s Inc. fell 1 5/8 to 12 3/4 after a major shareholder group said it had no current plans to buy the company, damping speculation of a takeover.

Among lower-priced stocks, Toll Bros., which reported higher quarterly earnings, rose 3/8 to 5 3/8.

Large blocks of 10,000 or more shares traded on the NYSE totaled 1,929, compared to Friday’s 1,812.

The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 2,615.459, up 20.592.

The NYSE’s composite index of all its listed common stocks gained 1.31 to 148.55.

Standard & Poor’s industrial index rose 3.19 to 301.20, and S&P;’s 500-stock composite index was up 2.65 at 262.33.

The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market climbed 1.78 to 376.21. At the American Stock Exchange, the market-value index closed at 295.05, up 1.18.

In foreign trading, stocks closed sharply lower on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday in a thin market with no buying incentives in sight, brokers said. The Nikkei 225-share index closed at 27,379.10, down 299.81 points. It gained 113.50 points in Saturday’s half-day session.

The London Stock Exchange was closed for a holiday.