Stocks Mixed as Wall St. Thrill Ride Slows
Stocks ended mixed Friday as the bond market’s midweek rally ran out of steam.
The Dow Jones industrials eased 3.86 points to 3,648.68. For the week, the Dow lost 12.79 points, after a roller-coaster ride that saw prices plunge early in the week, then rocket on Thursday.
In the bond market, the yield on the Treasury’s 30-year bond closed at 7.22% on Friday, up from 7.21% on Thursday, as oil prices jumped. Still, the yield was down from 7.28% a week ago.
“It’s the first time in the last couple of weeks we’re closing on more of a positive note,” said Nick Kinas, bond trader at Bank Leumi Trust in New York.
The belief that interest rates may have stopped rising--at least temporarily--had helped pull rate-sensitive stocks up early in the week. That buying spilled into industrial issues Thursday.
On Friday, profit takers clipped some of the financial issues, but overall winners topped losers by 13 to 9 on the New York Stock Exchange and by 14 to 12 on Nasdaq. Volume slowed, however.
The Nasdaq composite index of mostly smaller stocks advanced 3.82 points to 722.56, building on Thursday’s 13.22-point rise.
Some analysts said they were encouraged by the relative lack of active profit taking in stocks after Thursday’s 54-point Dow gain. That suggested investors see the market bottoming here.
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Among Friday’s highlights:
* Energy stocks were the day’s big winners, as June crude oil futures surged 51 cents to $17.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first close above $17 since November.
Oil got a push from civil disturbances in Nigeria, the world’s 10th-largest oil producer. Shell’s Nigerian arm said it expected three-day delays in getting shipments of high-quality crude out of the country.
Among energy issues, Mobil leaped 2 1/4 to 78 3/8 and Exxon added 5/8 to 63 1/8. Both reported strong quarterly earnings. Other winners included Unocal, up 1/2 to 27; Arco, up 1 to 98 1/8; Louisiana Land, up 1 3/8 to 40, and Amoco, up 7/8 to 55 7/8.
* Some tech issues continued to rebound. Texas Instruments rose 1 5/8 to 73 1/8, Creative Technologies jumped 3 3/8 to 24 3/8, Powersoft gained 3 1/8 to 33 1/8 and Sybase added 1 to 48 1/2.
IBM, which surged 6 1/8 on Thursday on word of surprisingly good earnings, added 3/8 to 58 3/4 on Friday.
But Unisys plunged 2 1/2 to 11 1/2 on disappointing earnings. Another tech loser on lower-than-expected earnings was Zebra Technologies, which plunged 6 7/8 to 26 1/4.
* Also on the downside, weaker financial stocks included Chase Manhattan, off 1 to 33 3/4; Federal National Mortgage, down 2 to 82, and BankAmerica, down 1 3/4 to 44.
* Casino giant Promus, which owns Harrah’s casinos, sank 1 5/8 to 32. The Louisiana attorney general said the firm must rebid for its New Orleans gaming license.
In foreign markets, Mexico City’s Bolsa stock index recorded its biggest advance in more than three years after the Mexican central bank moved decisively to protect the weakening peso. That increased investor confidence, traders said.
The Bolsa rocketed 133.99 points, or 6.5%, to 2,209.31. It had gained 118 points Thursday.
Telmex shares traded on the NYSE shot up 2 5/8 to 57 1/2.
In Frankfurt, the DAX index gained 16.95 points to 2,213.92, while Tokyo’s Nikkei index rose 165.03 points to 19,964.39. In London, the FTSE-100 index shot up 32.5 points to 3,133.7.
Meanwhile, gold futures closed lower in New York. The April futures contract on the Comex lost $2.50 to $370.60.
Market Roundup, D4
