NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average climbed back above 9,000 today. Still, most stocks fell despite sharp gains in a financial sector energized by more blockbuster mergers and some robust profit reports. Dow gains 17.4
The Dow wiped out a nearly 70-point deficit and rose 17.44 points to close at 9,012.30.
Decliners led advancers by a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,291 up, 1,720 down and 509 unchanged. NYSE volume was 563.91 million shares, up slightly from Thursday's modest tally 546.42 million.
The Standard & Poor's 500 list fell 0.98 to 1,109.69, but the NYSE composite index rose 1.39 to 577.77, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.71 to 1,824.95.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.48 to 479.56, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 1.35 to 738.32.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was down 5/8 point, or $6.25 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 5.92 percent from 5.88 percent late Thursday.
The Dow would have finished lower if not for J.P. Morgan, which surged about 7 points -- or the equivalent of nearly 30 Dow points -- amid news of a $59 billion merger between NationsBank and BankAmerica and a nearly $30 billion deal by Banc One and First Chicago NBD. The two deals come just a week after Citicorp and Travelers Group agreed to a merger worth more than $70 billion.
Meanwhile, in an encouraging start to a busy week for company reports on the first three months of 1998, Merrill Lynch, Paine Webber Group, and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette all posted better-than-expected profits.