Post-4th Fed Watch Makes for Dull Session
Stocks rose slightly Tuesday as bond yields dipped in light post-holiday trading and as financial markets nervously awaited the outcome of a Federal Reserve Board policy meeting.
The dollar rose against the Japanese yen but fell against major European currencies as doubts grew that a weekend meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations will come up with a major rescue plan for the greenback.
On Wall Street, stocks spent most of the session at mixed levels, with buyers favoring blue chips and other big-name companies over smaller issues.
The buying temporarily faded in the afternoon, but the Dow industrials managed to end with a 5.83-point gain at 3,652.48.
In the broader market, advances outnumbered declines by fewer than 100 issues on the New York Stock Exchange, where the pace of trading crawled. Big Board volume came to 195.41 million shares, compared to 199.03 million Friday. U.S. financial markets were closed Monday for Independence Day.
Market indicators reflecting mostly NYSE-listed stocks posted small increases. The NYSE composite rose 0.17 point to 246.51, and Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 0.17 point to 446.37.
But the Nasdaq Stock Market composite index of mostly smaller companies fell 3.26 points to 703.59.
Wall Street analysts said the listless, post-holiday atmosphere, combined with apprehension about the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, made for a dull session with many big investors on the sidelines.
The central bank’s policy-setting committee met Tuesday and will meet again today to review economic conditions.
The 30-year Treasury bond inched up 3/16 point, which lowered its yield to 7.58% from Friday’s level of 7.60%.
Among the market highlights:
* Texaco rose 3/4 to 60 7/8 after unveiling a corporate restructuring, leading other oil stocks higher. Arco gained 1 3/8 to 103, Chevron added 1/2 to 42 7/8 and Mobil rose 1 3/8 to 82 5/8.
* Computer networking companies Wellfleet Communications and SynOptics Communications announced a merger, in which Wellfleet offered 0.725 of a share for each outstanding SynOptics share. Wall Street did not greet the deal warmly. Wellfleet fell 5 3/16 to 20 1/16 and SynOptics dropped 1 1/8 to 14 5/8.
* Boeing rose 3/4 to 47 1/8 on the company’s report that it delivered 67 commercial airliners in the second quarter, slightly more than some analysts had expected.
A rebound in the battered dollar against the yen buoyed Tokyo markets, leading the Nikkei average up 202.44 points to 20,834.37.
Frankfurt’s 30-share DAX average ended at 2,032.69, down 21.71 points, while London’s Financial Times 100-share average closed down 5.4 points at 2,965.0.
In Mexico City, the Bolsa average rose 8.52 points to 2,276.06.
Meanwhile, the dollar fetched 98.90 Japanese yen in New York, compared to 98.55 yen on Friday, but fell to 1.580 German marks, from Friday’s 1.596.
