Dow Breaks a 4-Day Losing Streak : Market Overview

Highlights of Tuesday’s market activity, compiled from Times staff and wire reports:

* After four straight losing sessions, stocks partly recovered Tuesday as investors entered the market in search of bargains. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 15.87 points to 3,230.99.

* The rally in Treasury bonds ran out of steam partly because of rumors that upcoming economic reports would show new strength.

Stocks

Computerized buy programs sent traders racing to buy some of the same stocks they sold recently.

“It’s not a mirage, there is pretty broad-based buying,” said market analyst Jim Schroder at MMS International.

In the broad market, advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Big Board volume totaled 203.0 million shares, up from 160.84 million Monday.

Analysts said some investors were squaring their portfolios prior to the results of Tuesday’s presidential primaries. The market could pull back today if there’s a sense that President Bush is continuing to lose ground, they said.

But Patrick Davis, analyst at Salomon Bros., noted that investors perceived many stocks to be bargains. “Some of the things were getting overdone,” he said, referring to the recent selloff.

A lot of growth stocks “sold off 10% to 15%, so they are looking relatively attractive again,” said analyst Samuel Hallowell at Van Lieu Capital.

Smaller stocks in particular were strong. The NASDAQ composite index shot up 7.64 points, or 1.2%, to 623.46.

Among the market highlights:

* Leading growth stocks that gained included Coca-Cola, up 1 1/8 to 81 1/4; Philip Morris, up 7/8 to 76 7/8; United Health, up 3 1/4 to 80 7/8; PacifiCare Health, up 4 to 60 1/2, and Nike, up 1 7/8 to 71 3/4.

* Biotech stocks, among the most beaten-down issues of late, snapped back. Amgen jumped 3 1/8 to 65 3/8, Gensia gained 2 3/4 to 44, Biogen advanced 1 5/8 to 28 5/8, and Scios was up 1/2 to 16 5/8.

* Many financial services stocks rebounded. J. P. Morgan was up 1 5/8 at 58 5/8, Federal Home Loan gained 2 at 124 1/4, and Aetna Life added 1 1/2 to 44 3/4. But Pasadena-based mortgage financier Countrywide Credit lost 1/2 to 33 3/8 despite reporting sharply higher quarter earnings.

* Among California S&Ls;, Coast Savings inched up 1/4 to 10 1/8, despite news that major shareholder Theodore Kruttschnitt sold 175,000 shares recently, cutting his stake to 1.09 million shares.

* Azusa-based Optical Radiation rocketed 3 1/2 to 28 on the NASDAQ market. The technology firm said it will buy Corneal Contouring Inc. of Tulsa, Okla., a firm developing a new non-laser procedure to correct eye problems. The purchase, for $10 million, is viewed by analysts as strengthening Optical’s business in vision care.

* Among computer stocks, Dell Computer rose 2 1/4 to 39 1/4 after reporting sharply higher quarterly earnings. But Irvine-based rival AST Research fell 1 3/8 to 19 1/8. At least two analysts cut earnings estimates for the current quarter.

In foreign trading, London’s Financial Times 100-share average shot up 24.1 points to 2,574.8. In Frankfurt, the DAX index inched up 0.29 point to 1,750.54.

Stocks ended mixed in Tokyo after a late program-driven surge pushed the Nikkei average modestly higher. The Nikkei ended up 56.91 points at 20,854.59.

The Mexico City market rebounded, with the Bolsa index gaining 1.4% to 1,861.10.

In early trading today in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rocketed 85 points to a record 5,003.83 on news of sharply higher profits at the parent of HongKong and Shanghai Bank.

Credit

Bonds closed an erratic session with yields up slightly. The price of the Treasury’s closely watched 30-year bond fell 5/16 point, or $3.13 per $1,000. The bond’s yield rose to 7.90% from 7.87% Monday.

Anthony Chan, economist at Barclays de Zoete Wedd Securities, said: “The market has been plagued with a million rumors. This usually happens when there’s no excuse for prices coming down.”

One of the rumors said a widely watched consumer confidence survey to be released in the middle of the month will show a strong gain.

Signs of economic upturn can send yields up by making it less likely that the Federal Reserve will move to lower interest rates.

The fed funds rate, the rate on overnight loans between banks, fell to 3.75% from 3.88% Monday.

Currency

The dollar rose in uneventful trading on world foreign exchange markets, benefiting from selling in other currencies.

In New York, the dollar rose to 1.671 German marks from 1.662 Monday. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to 132.90 yen, up from Monday’s 131.96.

Commodities

A three-day weather rally in wheat prices stalled as fears of crop damage gave way to profit taking.

It could take weeks to assess the winterkill from subfreezing temperatures early Tuesday morning in the winter wheat fields of the Great Plains, analysts said.

Wheat for March delivery settled at $4.105 a bushel, 1 cent below Monday’s settlement. The March contract had risen nearly 13 cents in the three previous sessions as winterkill worries mounted.

Elsewhere, most energy futures rose on the New York Merc, with light, sweet crude oil for April delivery up 2 cents to $18.69 a barrel.

Precious metals were little changed on New York’s Comex. April gold rose 10 cents to $349.80 an ounce; March silver slipped 1.3 cents to $4.14.

Market Roundup, D6