FINANCIAL MARKETS : Stocks Rise 1.33 to End Sluggish Week Up 7.03
The stock market closed out a listless week with a small gain in light trading Friday.
The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials rose 1.33 to 2,681.61, finishing the week with a net gain of 7.03 points.
Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 8 to 7 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks, with 747 up, 654 down and 562 unchanged.
Big Board volume was 133.35 million shares, down from 146.93 million in the previous session. Nationwide, consolidated volume in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 159.37 million shares.
Analysts said nothing had occurred to stir the market out of its recent torpor.
The rally that carried prices to record highs just before the Labor Day weekend crested as it became evident that interest rates had stopped falling.
That left investors in something of a stalemate between those who expect persistent economic growth at a moderate pace and those who still believe a significant slowdown awaits in the not-too-distant future.
%Credit
Bond prices finished slightly lower in light dealings as traders were wary of making big commitments in advance of this weekend’s meeting of major industrialized nations.
The Treasury’s benchmark 30-year bond lost 1/16 point, or 63 cents for every $1,000 face amount, as its yield rose to 8.19% from 8.18% late Thursday.
In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments were unchanged to down 1/32 point, intermediate maturities fell 1/8 point and long-term issues dropped as much as 5/32 point, according to Telerate Inc., the financial information service.
The Shearson Lehman Hutton daily Treasury bond index, which measures price movements on all outstanding Treasury issues with maturities of a year or longer, fell 0.68 to 1,174.66.
% Yields on three-month Treasury bills fell to 8.01% as the discount lost 6 basis points to 7.74%. Yields on six-month bills held steady at 8.15% as the discount was firm at 7.74%. Yields on one-year bills issued at auction Thursday rose to 8.21% as the discount gained 4 basis points to 7.64%.
The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, was quoted at 8.9375%, unchanged from late Thursday.
Currency
The dollar rose in thin, erratic trading. Gold prices also rose.
The Federal Reserve sold dollars for a fourth straight day, dealers said, but the currency bounced back from the intervention and ended near the highs of the session.
In Tokyo, the dollar closed at 145.00 Japanese yen, unchanged from Thursday. In London late Friday, the dollar traded higher at 145.35 yen. At the end of the day in New York, the dollar rose to 146.05 yen from 145.65 on Thursday.
In London, one British pound cost $1.5755 late Friday, cheaper for buyers than Thursday’s late $1.5805. In New York, the pound fell against the dollar to $1.5715 from $1.5790.
, Gold prices were higher in active trading. The late London gold price was $364.50 bid an ounce, up from $363.25 late Thursday. The Zurich, Switzerland, late bid price was $365.50, up from $363.50.
Earlier in Hong Kong, gold closed at $364.15 bid, up from $363.85.
Commodities
Silver futures prices rose sharply for a third straight day on New York’s Commodity Exchange but analysts were divided on whether the market could sustain the technically inspired rally.
On other markets, gold futures also rose; energy, coffee, grain and soybean futures retreated, and livestock and meat futures were mixed.
Silver futures settled 10.5 to 11 cents higher, with the contract for delivery in September at $5.286 an ounce. That price reflects a gain of more than 23.1 cents in three days. The more actively traded December contract finished at $5.38 an ounce.
Gold futures settled 30 to 70 cents higher, with October at $366.70 an ounce.
Most energy futures ended lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange, although the October gasoline contract advanced slightly amid speculation about the extent of damage caused by Hurricane Hugo to an Amerada Hess Corp. refinery on the Caribbean island of St. Croix.
Other energy contracts retreated on profit taking after rallying sharply on hurricane-related fears earlier in the week.
Coffee futures fell sharply on New York’s Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange as hopes for a restoration of coffee export quotas faded.
The International Coffee Organization opens a two-week meeting Monday in London but most experts do not expect the 74 nation-members to agree on new price-support measures.
