Dow Surges, Swoons, Closes Slightly Higher
It was another bumpy ride down Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average flirted with 8,000 in early trading Thursday, sank below 7,900 at midday, and then ended the day up 13.71 at 7,942.03, a slight gain that hardly reflected the day’s volatility.
Broad-market indexes also ended higher as bond-market interest rates fell for the second straight day on encouraging inflation news.
“It’s been one of those roller coaster rides,” said Anthony O’Bryan, a market analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. “We started the day on the right foot, but that eroded and then we came back.”
Stocks opened higher, jumping 70 points in early trading after the government said consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in July, in line with market expectations.
After the opening gain Thursday, the profit-takers stepped in, hoping to benefit from the 22 percent rise in the Dow already this year.
“The Dow gained 2,000 points from mid-April to August,” said Larry Wachtel, a market analyst at Prudential Securities. “After you go up 2,000 points in that short time, you have to rest.”
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by 11-to-9 margin on the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE volume totaled 530.52 million shares as of 4 p.m., vs. 587.23 million in the previous session.
Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday:
NYSE
Woolworth, down 13/16 at 26-3/8.
The New York-based retailer reported second-quarter earnings that were below Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
Bristol-Meyers, up 3-5/8 at 76-1/8.
The pharmaceutical company said a Houston jury rejected claims by Ossie Goldshtin that breast implants she received in May 1986 led to complications.
NASDAQ
Seaman Furniture, up 2 at 24-1/4.
SFC Merger Co. investment firm will buy Seaman Furniture for about $125.3 million.
Puma Technology, down 2 at 4.
The San Jose, Calif.-based manufacturer of mobile data exchange software expects its fourthquarter earnings to fall below Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
Micron Electronics, down 2 at 16.
Robertson Stephens & Co., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Inc., Rodman & Renshaw Inc. and Montgomery Securities Inc. all lowered their earnings expectations for the Nampa, Idaho-based company.
Amerco, down 4-1/4 at 26-7/8.
The holding company for U-Haul International Inc., Amerco Real Estate and Ponderosa Holdings said its first-quarter earnings will fail to match Wall Street’s expectations.