Stocks Slide On Signs Of Economic Growth

Stocks ended Friday’s session mixed, as blue-chips fell with bonds but technology shares bounced back from early losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 18.66 points to close at 4,708.82. While below Thursday’s record close of 4,727.48, the blue-chip index more than halved the worst losses of the day. For the week, the gain was 6.09 points.

Big Board volume was moderate at 312.22 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 387.48 million Thursday. The NYSE logged its second-busiest trading week ever, as 1.9 billion shares changed hands, compared with a record 2.3 billion for the week ending Oct. 23, 1987.

Declining issues led advancers by about 7 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bonds fell, pulling stocks lower, after government reports pointed to an economic resurgence. Retail sales rose 0.7 percent in June following an upward revised May gain of 0.9 percent. The government also said that output at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities rose 0.1 percent in June after after three straight months of declines.

The growth was not accompanied by higher inflation. Consumer prices rose a mere 0.1 percent in June, the best showing since a similar tiny increase last November.

But the good news on inflation was not enough to appease investors, who worried that an expanding economy might discourage the Federal Reserve from further lowering short-term interest rates after last week’s cut of one-quarter of a percentage point, or 25 basis points.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially Friday:

NYSE

Colgate-Palmolive fell 3-7/8 to 68-1/4.

The personal-care products maker estimated its second-quarter net profits at 95 cents per share, below the analysts’ previous estimate of $1.04 to $1.05.

Chase Manhattan fell 1-7/8 to 52-3/8.

The stock rose sharply on Thursday after a research report suggested that Chase could be acquired by Chemical Banking.

Sears rose 1-3/4 to 34.

Allstate fell 1-1/8 to 31-1/2.

Sears distributed shares of Allstate, its insurance subsidiary, to Sears shareholders, who received 0.927035 shares of Allstate for each Sears common share.

NASDAQ

Microsoft rose 2 5-16 to 102 7-16.

The software maker finished writing Windows 95, a long-awaited update of the foundation program for most personal computers. It is ready to begin mass production despite the prospect the government might seek a major change before it reaches the market.

Intuit rose 4 to 87.

The company said it would provide on-line banking services through 19 major banks and financial companies, including Citicorp, Chase Manhattan and American Express. The new service, which will be available this fall, coincides with the introduction of a new version of Intuit’s Quicken personal finance software.

AMEX

Psychemed fell 1-3/4 to 7-1/4.

The stock was correcting after two days of strong gains, following an announcement that the company had invented a drug test using hair samples.