Dow Climbs 6.76 as Market Drifts Listlessly, Levels Off

The stock market showed no clear trend in light trading today, leveling off after last week’s drop.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, down 92.42 last week, recovered 6.76 to 2,603.48.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by about 7 to 6 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 665 up, 772 down and 487 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 126.63 million shares, against 170.33 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index lost .01 to 185.59.

Analysts said the market got some support from bargain hunting by traders attracted to stocks that have been hit by selling this month.

They also noted hopes for evidence in the next few days that the economy is maintaining a moderate pace of growth, despite a recent barrage of disappointing corporate earnings reports.

The government is to report Tuesday on the index of leading economic indicators for September.

Advance estimates call for the index, which is designed to function as a kind of economic crystal ball, to show a modest increase.

Bond prices drifted lower in light dealings this morning, reflecting concerns about when Congress may act to raise the debt ceiling.

The Treasury’s benchmark 30-year bond was down 7/32 point, or about $2.20 for every $1,000 face amount, at midday while its yield, which rises when prices fall, edged up to 7.95% from 7.93% late Friday.

The debt ceiling is scheduled to fall to $2.8 trillion from $2.87 trillion at midnight Tuesday unless Congress and President Bush enact legislation that would prevent it or impose a higher limit.

Without new debt limit legislation, the government may have to delay its regular quarterly auction to refinance the government’s debt. The Treasury is expected to announce auction plans on Wednesday, and the auction would normally occur the next week.

“People are trying to figure out what the next development in the Treasury debt ceiling deliberations might be,” said Martin Morrow, money market economist at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets.

In the secondary market for Treasury securities, prices of short-term governments were down 1/32 point, intermediate maturities lost 3/32 point and long-term issues were down as much as 1/8 point, according to the Telerate Inc. financial information service.

The Shearson Lehman Hutton daily Treasury bond index, which measures price movements on outstanding Treasury issues with maturities of a year or longer, slipped 0.76 to 1,188.97.

Moody’s corporate bond index was unavailable at midday.