FINANCIAL MARKETS : Stocks : Traders Take Wary Attitude; Dow Dips 9.16

The stock market posted some scattered losses Wednesday in an atmosphere of caution on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials dropped 9.16 to 2,393.70, bringing its loss over the week’s first three sessions to 25.10 points.

Advancing and declining issues were about evenly balanced in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks, with 674 up, 703 down and 556 unchanged.

Big Board volume came to 171.69 million shares, against 172.56 million Tuesday. Nationwide, consolidated volume in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 205.47 million shares.

Analysts said many traders were leery of making any big commitments until they get a look at Friday’s report from the Labor Department on employment in April.

The figures are expected to provide an indication of whether the economy continued to slow last month after giving evidence of losing some momentum in the first quarter.

Hopes have been increasing on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve is succeeding in its campaign to cool inflation without tightening credit so much as to cause a recession.

But that view was called into question at the start of this week when a trade association of corporate purchasing managers reported that business activity picked up in April.

Avon Products was heavily traded, up 4 3/4 at 36 7/8 on news that Irwin L. Jacobs, a Minneapolis investor, and Amway Corp. have acquired a 10% interest in the company. Avon said it was “not for sale.”

Kodak Drops Further

Eastman Kodak dropped 1/2 to 43 3/8 on top of a 3 1/4-point loss Tuesday, when the company reported a bigger-than-expected decline in its quarterly earnings.

Other losers among the blue chips included International Business Machines, down 7/8 at 111 1/2; Ford Motor, down 3/8 at 47, and Coca-Cola, down 1/2 at 54 7/8.

Nynex dropped 1 5/8 to 72 3/8. The company told analysts that it expects to have difficulty meeting its goal of 7% to 10% earnings growth this year.

NCNB gained 2 to 38 7/8. The company said it knew of no reason for the heavier-than-usual trading in its shares.

Xtra Corp., which said it expected to post lower earnings from continuing operations in its current fiscal year, fell 2 3/8 to 37 1/8.

The Wilshire index of 5,000 equities closed at 3,044.680, up 0.951. The NYSE’s composite index of all its listed common stocks dipped 0.02 to 172.35.

Standard & Poor’s industrial index rose 0.38 to 354.99; its 500-stock composite index was up 0.04 at 308.16.

The NASDAQ composite index gained 0.81 to 428.84; the American Stock Exchange index closed at 344.83, up 0.17.

In Tokyo, the stock market was closed until Monday because of Japanese holidays.

In London, shares rallied toward the close to end slightly firmer on bargain hunting, dealers said. The Financial Times 100-share index finished 2.6 points higher at 2,105.7.

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