Closing Market Report

Star-Bulletin news services

Monday, February 1, 1999

Dow slips 13

NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks gave back moderate gains in the final minutes of trading to end lower, but the Nasdaq index inched higher to close at a record level for the third straight session.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 13.13 lower at 9,345.70, breaking two days of gains. The blue-chip index opened higher after European stocks scored strong gains earlier and Washington released an economic report that indicates new strength in the manufacturing sector.

The Dow waffled at mid-morning but regained its strength, moving as high as 9430.66, up nearly 72 points from Friday's close, only to retreat a second time in the final 20 minutes.

Decliners led advancers by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,635 up, 1,362 down and 536 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 799.04 million shares vs. 911 million Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 6.64 at 1,273.00, but the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 4.20 to 2,510.09, a record. The NYSE composite index fell 2.98 at 597.46, and the American Stock Exchange composite index dropped 2.23 to 712.63. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies slipped 1.14 to 426.08.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was off 1 7/16 points, or $14.371/2 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 5.18 percent from 5.08 percent late Friday.

Meanwhile, some merger news helped individual names.

In merger news, Rohm & Haas Co. agreed to buy salt processor Morton International Inc. in a transaction worth $4.9 billion. Shares of both companies rose.



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