Greenspan Comments Boost Dow

Stocks rose modestly after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan indicated that the central bank may be finished raising interest rates. But the gains were curbed by weakness in the dollar.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 9.08 higher at 3,973.05, posting its second consecutive gain. The blue chip index rose to the 3,986 level in morning trading, but closed below its all-time high of 3,987.52 reached last Thursday.

Advancing issues led decliners by about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavy at 339.12 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 308.06 million Tuesday.

The market opened tentatively higher and then extended its gains. The rally intensified when Greenspan told the Senate Banking Committee the economy “almost surely” will slow this year.

But the bond and stock markets were held back by a weakening dollar.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday:

NYSE

Fleet Financial rose 1/2 to 30 7/8.

Shawmut rose 3/8 to 25 3/8.

Fleet agreed to acquire Shawmut for $3.45 billion in stock.

Micron Technology rose 3 to 59 1/8.

The company entered into a cross-licensing agreement with Intel for flash memory devices. Intel rose 5/8 to 79 5/8 in Nasdaq trading.

Boston Scientific rose 1 to 19 3/8.

Standard & Poor’s Corp. said it would replace National Education Corp. with Boston Scientific in the S & P 500 index list.

NASDAQ

Intel rose 5/8 to 79 5/8.

The company entered into a crosslicensing agreement with Micron Technology for flash memory devices. Micron rose 3 to 59 1/8 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Nordstrom fell 3 1/2 to 41 5/8.

The department store chain boosted its quarterly dividend to 12.5 cents from 10 cents and reported fourth-quarter net earnings of 85 cents per share, up from 74 cents a year ago. Analysts worried that the company would be unable to top those results next year.

Microsoft rose 1 3/4 to 61 1/2.

The software maker formed a partnership program designed to make it easier for original equipment manufacturers to sell systems that include Microsoft products.

AMEX

Westbridge Capital fell 1/2 to 6 7/8.

The insurance holding company priced 1.5 million shares at $7 per share. The size of the offering was cut from an original 2.5 million shares.