Wall St higher

Press, 25 January 1988, Page 26

Wall St higher

NZPA-Reuter New York Wall Street closed higher on Friday (early Saturday N.Z. time), in light trading. Some limited bargain hunting aimed at groups such as technology, which fell earlier in the week, helped prop the market up. Traders said the market’s ability to hold its gains all session brought in a late round of short covering.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 24 points higher at 1903. The gain shaved the loss for the week to just over 52 points, and raised hopes that Wall Street may begin to stabilise this week.

Until the last 45-minutes of the session, stocks traded in narrowly defined range, never exceeding a 14-point gain made briefly at the opening.

But a few investors felt that certain groups, such as the computer and semiconductor stocks, were bargains at their current prices. That sentiment caused advancing issues to lead declines three to one on volume of 147 million shares.

Eugene Peroni of Janney Montgomery Scott said Wall Street’s biggest problem is psychological rather than fundamental. He said that even companies that reported good earnings were being pounded because investors’ sights for 1988 were excessive.

Closing prices of selected Wall St stocks on Friday include.—Alcan 26%, Alcoa 42%, Amerada 26, AmExp 25%, Armco 10%, Asarco 22%, ARCO 72%, ATT 28, BethStl 17%, Boeing 42%, Borden 48%, CBS 156%, Chevron 41%, Chrysler 25%, Citicorp 19%, ClarkEqp 23%, Coca Cola 37%, Colgate 40%, ContlData 20%, Crane 21, Digital 119%, Dow Chem 79%, DuPont 76%, East Kodak 49%, Englhrd 19, Exxon 39%, Firestone 29%, Fluor 14%, Ford 41%, FrptMcmor 24%, Gencorp 21, GenDyn 50%, GEC 44%, GM 61%, Goodyear 57%, Greyhound 27, Grumman 18%, Gulfßes 11%, Heinz 40, Haliburton 25%, ■; Homestake 16%, Honeywell 55%, IBM 110%, INCO 20%, ITT 45%, JandJ 79%, KMart 30%, Kaisertech 10%, Kraft 52, Lockheed 36, MMM 57, Manville 2%, Mattel 7%, McdonDoug 60%, Mcdonald’s 43%, MerrLynch 22%, Mobil 41%, Monsanto 76, Navistar 4, NCR 55%, NewmMin 34%, Occidental 25%, Pfizer 51%, PhelDodge 37%, PhilipsPet 13%, Polaroid 23%, Raytheon 65%, ReynMetal 40%, RoylDutch 109%, Schlumberger 29%, Seagrams 52%, Searsßoe 33%, ShellTr 73%, Texaco 37%, Texaslnst 45%, UNOCAL 30%, UnionCarb 20%, Unisys 32%, USX 30%, Disney 57%, Westinghouse 48%, Woolworth 36%, Xerox 54%.