Pain Widespread In Market Sell-Off

Little went right on Wall Street Monday.

All major market indicators dropped as pessimism over the federal budget, interest rates and profits was inflamed by a computer bug that delayed the opening of the New York Stock Exchange for one hour.

By the time the NYSE finally got underway at 10:30 a.m. EST, the sell orders were piling up.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 101.52 points, the biggest drop in more than four years. But the market’s best-known indicator still closed at 5075.21, 32 percent higher than where it started the year.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Big Board volume totaled 425.52 million shares as of 4 p.m., well off Friday’s all time record of 636.81 million. The NYSE’s composite index fell 5.00 points to 323.66. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 9.53 to 606.81.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily:

NYSE

Charles Schwab Corp., down 2-5/8 to 17.

The San Francisco-based discount broker said its fourth-quarter profit is likely to be 22 cents to 25 cents per share, a couple of cents lower than estimates. The company said its investments in new customer services, advertising and technology during the quarter will curb profit margins, but help growth in the long run.

Morgan Stanley, down 3-3/8 to 78-1/4.

Merrill Lynch, down 1-7/8 to 50.

Brokerages were among the hardest hit in Monday’s sell-off.

Nynex, up 1/4 to to 49-7/8.

Bell Atlantic, down 1-5/8 to 67.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the two regional telephone companies are in merger talks, on the eve of passage of a sweeping bill to rewrite telephone, broadcast and cable TV laws.

NASDAQ

Steris Corp., down 9-3/4 to 32-1/2.

Amsco International Inc., down 2-5/8 to 15-1/8 on the NYSE.

Steris, a Mentor, Ohio-based maker of sterile and infection-prevention products will buy Amsco, a surgical equipment maker based in Pittsburgh, for $660 million in stock.

Cobra Golf Inc., up 7-7/8 to 35-1/2.

American Brands Inc., down 2-1/4 to 44-1/8 on the NYSE.

American Brands said it would buy Cobra, a Carlsbad, Calif. maker of golf clubs for $36 per share or about $700 million. American, which makes tobacco, liquor, office and leisure products, said the deal will enhance its 1996 earnings.

Cisco Systems, down 3-1/8 to 70-7/8.

U.S. Robotics, down 4-1/2 to 83-1/2.

Applied Materials, down 3-1/4 to 38-3/4.

These companies were among the biggest losers during a broad decline in Nasdaq technology issues.