Dow Closes Off 0.49 in Quiet Year-End Trade

Stock prices were mostly lower in quiet year-end trading today, pressured by Middle East worries.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials slipped 0.49 points to 2,593.32.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 492 up, 1,016 down and 516 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 118.56 million shares, against 150.88 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index lost .49 to 178.22.

Analysts said investors were having some second thoughts about recent hopeful talk that the showdown in the Persian Gulf could be resolved in an orderly way.

The price of crude oil for January delivery rose about 50 cents a barrel, to just above $27 a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In the credit markets, interest rates rose at the outset, but then settled back in the afternoon.

Yields on long-term Treasury bonds, after climbing to the 8.20%-8.21% range in early activity, wound up near 8.17%.

Yields were mixed on 13-week and 26-week T-bills today at the government’s weekly auction.

The Treasury Department auctioned $10.01 billion of 13-week bills at an average discount of 6.78%, down from 6.86% last week and lowest since July 18, 1988, when the auction yielded 6.76%.

The Treasury also sold $10.03 billion of 26-week bills at an average of 6.77%, up from 6.74%last week and the highest since Dec.3, 1990, when the yield stood at 6.96%.

The investment rate was 6.99% on the 13-week bills at an average price of $9,826.60 per $10,000 face value. The rate on the 26-week bill was 7.11% at $9,657.70.

The Treasury’s bellwether 30-year bond dropped 3/32 point, or 94 cents per $1,000 in face amount.