STOCKS : Trading Slow, but Dow Adds 15.84
Stock prices rose Wednesday in very slow post-holiday trading, supported by stronger bond prices and investment managers sprucing up their portfolios for year-end.
The Dow Jones industrial index rose 15.84 to close at 2,637.13. Advancing issues outpaced declining shares 775 to 620 on very light Big Board volume of 78.7 million shares, the year’s third lightest.
The slowest day of the year was Monday, when only 57.2 million shares changed hands in a shortened session.
“Today was brutally quiet. The higher close is a late little present from Santa Claus,” said Ned Collins, executive vice president in charge of U.S. equity trading at Daiwa Securities.
Many market participants took Wednesday off because of the Christmas holiday, and others remained wary of taking new positions amid uncertainties over the political situation in the Persian Gulf and the Soviet Union, traders said.
“There are so many geopolitical events,” said Diego Veitia, chairman of International Assets Advisory Corp., an investment firm in Orlando, Fla. “The market has been trading on events rather than on the economic and financial side.”
Among the market highlights:
* Texaco Inc. jumped 1 3/4 to 60 1/2, Exxon Corp. was up 1/2 to 51 3/4 and Mobil climbed 1 1/8 to 58 1/4 in active trading.
* Tiffany & Co. dropped a steep 4 3/8 to 37 1/4. An Advest Group retail analyst cut his earnings forecast for the company after it said its holiday sales rose 8%, below Wall Street estimates of 15%.
* UAL Corp. rose 2 to 115, but the company said it knew of no reason for the stock climb.
In London and Frankfurt, the markets were closed for the holiday.
In Tokyo, stock prices rose despite Christmas holiday doldrums and investor unease over the prospect of war in the Persian Gulf. The key 225-share Nikkei index closed up 119.68 at 23,887.56. It fell 351.72 Tuesday.
CURRENCY Dollar Declines on Profit Taking The dollar drifted lower Wednesday in quiet post-holiday trading.
Currency dealers said profit taking following Monday’s rally was largely responsible for the dollar’s decline. But they said market sentiment toward the dollar remained strong amid continued political and economic unrest overseas.
Most financial markets in Europe, Hong Kong and Canada remained closed Wednesday for an extended holiday.
In Tokyo, where global trading begins, the dollar closed at 136.25 yen, up 0.30 yen from Tuesday’s close. The dollar stood at 136.10 yen in New York, up from 136 yen Monday.
The dollar was down against the British pound, with sterling fetching $1.8815 vs. $1.8685 Monday.
Other late dollar rates in New York, compared to late Monday’s quotes, included: 1.53475 German marks, down from 1.5453; 1.30825 Swiss francs, down from 1.316; 5.208 French francs, down from 5.2515; 1,155 Italian lire, down from 1,164, and 1.15945 Canadian dollars, down from 1.16.
COMMODITIES Frost Worries Boost Juice Futures Prices Prices of orange juice futures spurted higher Wednesday on the New York Cotton Exchange, reflecting worries that heavy frost damage to the California orange crop will hurt juice supplies.
On other markets, precious metal futures surged along with crude oil; livestock and meat futures were mostly higher, and grains and soybeans advanced.
Frozen concentrated orange juice futures settled 1.7 to 3.9 cents higher, with the contract for delivery in January at $1.181 a pound.
The rally marked the fifth straight trading day of gains for most orange juice futures. The January contract’s price soared about 12% last week in anticipation of frost damage to oranges over the weekend.
Extremely cold temperatures on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights damaged most of the California navel orange crop, the nation’s main source of fresh oranges.
Gold futures settled $3.10 to $3.50 higher on New York’s Commodity Exchange, with December at $385.60 an ounce; silver was 7 to 7.5 cents higher, with December at $4.095 an ounce.
Market Roundup, D6
