Dow Slips 1.98 as Traders Study Signs of Stagnation

The stock market recorded some spotty losses today as investors studied new signs of sluggishness in business activity.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials slipped 1.98 to 2,903.22.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by about 7 to 6 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 662 up, 770 down and 524 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 176.81 million shares, against 173.81 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index lost .22 to 194.38.

The Commerce Department reported that the index of leading economic indicators was unchanged in June, rather than posting the small increase many analysts had been expecting.

Separately, a monthly report from the National Assn. of Purchasing Management showed a marked drop-off in its measure of activity in the manufacturing sector of the economy.

Those developments reinforced expectations in the financial world that business growth was likely to remain meager at best in the near future.

In that environment, hopes have flagged on Wall Street for any impending improvement in corporate earnings.

But at the same time, interest rates have moved lower of late. In today’s credit market activity, prices of long-term government bonds rose about $5 for each $1,000 in face value, lowering their yields to the 8.35%-8.37% range.

The Treasury’s benchmark 30-year bond gained 17/32 point, or about $5.31 per $1,000 face amount. Its yield, which falls when the bond’s price rises, slipped to 8.36% from 8.41% late Monday.

In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments gained 3/32 point to 5/32 point, intermediate maturities advanced by 7/32 point to 15/32 point and long-term issues rose between 1/2 point and 9/32 point, according to Telerate Inc., a financial information service.