Dow gains 12

NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks clung to some marginal gains, led by the oil group, but the broad market stumbled for the fourth straight session today despite some solid profit reports and a big merger in the computer industry.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.20 points to close at 7,712.94, snapping a three-session losing streak that had sliced 172 points off the blue-chip barometer.

Decliners led advancers by a 7-to-6 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,323 up, 1,563 down and 544 unchanged. NYSE volume was 553.91 million shares vs. 627.31 million Friday.

Most broader indicators turned lower after drawing an early boost from a fairly strong day on foreign markets, better-than-expected profit reports from AT&T and General Motors, and news that Compaq Computer is buying Digital Equipment for $9.6 billion, or $60 a share.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list fell 0.63 to 956.95, and the NYSE composite index fell 0.40 to 500.28. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 14.47 to 1,561.46. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.80 to 421.01.

But the small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.04 to 661.67.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was up a 1 1/16 point, or $10.06 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield dropped to 5.89 percent from 5.97 percent late Friday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Asian stock markets were mostly higher today, with share prices continuing to rise in Tokyo on optimism that the government plans to boost Japan's faltering economy. Tokyo's Nikkei stock index rose 1.7 percent, and has gained 16.4 percent over the last two weeks.

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia's key stock index rose 5 percent, Malaysia's rose 2 percent higher, South Korea's rose 1.7 percent, and Hong Kong's rose 0.6 percent.

In Europe, Frankfurt's DAX index fell 0.3 percent and London's FT-SE 100 rose 1.1 percent.