FINANCIAL MARKETS : Dow at Another Record; Reports Benefit Bonds

Blue-chip stocks mustered enough strength to push the Dow Jones industrial average to another new high Tuesday, but the market generally gave an uninspiring performance.

In the Treasury bond market, yields slipped as oil prices pulled back from Monday’s nine-month highs.

Several broad-based stock indexes eked out new records with the Dow, despite a session that lacked a decisive trend.

The Dow industrials dug out of small deficit in the afternoon as selective buying offset modest profit taking.

The index closed up 12.80 points at 4,328.88, which was above the previous record of 4,321.27, reached Friday.

In moving ahead, the market confounded analysts who have been predicting that stocks would pause after climbing to ever loftier peaks for months.

But investors, apparently still hungry for stocks, are regarding any decline in the market as an opportunity to satisfy their appetites.

On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues held a slight edge over decliners. Volume on the Big Board’s floor amounted to 303 million shares, compared to 297 million on Monday.

Among other indexes, the NYSE composite rose 0.29 point to 277.43, or slightly above Friday’s record of 277.31.

Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 0.60 point to 514.86, which topped Friday’s record of 514.71.

Beyond the Big Board, stocks fared only so-so. The Nasdaq composite index ended almost where it started the day, at 841.79, up 0.16 point.

Stocks spent most of the morning treading water at slightly lower levels. A late turnaround in the bond market provided the boost.

Treasury bond yields fell moderately as oil prices slumped and as the government reported a weak gain in March new-home sales.

At the close, the yield on the Treasury’s main 30-year bond fell to 7.31% from 7.34% on Monday. Shorter-term yields also eased.

Oil futures prices rocketed higher, then plummeted, on the New York Merc amid waning fear that a planned U.S. embargo on Iran--announced Sunday--will affect crude oil supply and demand.

Light, sweet crude oil futures for June delivery settled 41 cents lower at $20.09 a barrel.

In addition, the Commerce Department released a mixed report on sales of new homes. Sales rose 3% in March, but the gains failed to make up for a 12.5% plunge in February. Analysts said the report suggested a still decelerating economy.

However, traders said many fixed-income players refrained from major transactions, continuing to be cautious in advance of a new batch of economic data due this week.

Among Tuesday’s highlights:

* Auto stocks fell after disappointing April sales. Ford dipped 3/8 to 26 5/8, Chrysler lost 1/2 to 42 and General Motors dropped 5/8 to 44 5/8.

* One of the session’s biggest movers was software giant Computer Associates, which shot up 5 1/4 to 68 5/8 in brisk NYSE turnover after the company reported sharply higher quarterly earnings.

Other tech stocks advancing included Dell, up 1 3/4 to 53 1/2; Sun Microsystems, up 1 3/8 to 40 7/8, and Cisco Systems, up 1 5/8 to 41.

* PepsiCo jumped 1 to 43 after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

In foreign trading, Tokyo’s 225-share Nikkei average closed up 277.20 points at 17,088.66. Japan’s markets will be closed until Monday for holidays.

In London, the FTSE-100 average rose 27.8 points to 3,248.2, and Frankfurt’s DAX average gained 19.98 points to 2,035.92.

In Mexico, the Bolsa index gained 24.42 points to 1,984.96.

Market Roundup, D6