Stocks Edge Higher In Sedate Friday Trading

Stocks posted modest gains in a sedate session on Friday, held back by a mixed reading on wholesale inflation that stirred fresh worries that interest rates would rise.

Computer and airline stocks were notable gainers.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.39 to 3,939.07, after hovering close to unchanged for the entire session. The blue chip average remains within sight of its all-time high of 3,978.36, made on Jan. 31, 1994.

“The stock market still seems to be knocking at the door of some records that were made about a year ago,” said Thomas McManus, equity strategist at Morgan Stanley & Co.

“What’s different this time is that the leadership is significantly different.”

A year ago, blue chip and industrial names were the star performers. Now, consumer non-durable stocks, utilities and financial stocks are leading the way higher, as investors who expect an economic downturn get more defensive, McManus said.

Advancing issues led decliners by about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange. Big Board volume was light at 295.56 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 325.55 million on Thursday.

Overseas stocks moved mostly higher. The Nikkei index in Tokyo move 1.1 percent higher, and The DAX index in Frankfurt gained 0.8 percent.

In London, the FT-SE 100 index rose 0.35 percent.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday:

NYSE

Telefonos de Mexico’s American depositary receipts rose 3/4 to 33.

Grupo Televisa rose 1/4 to 21.

The American shares of Mexican companies rose in sympathy with the Mexican stock market, whose IPC index gained 1.44 percent.

AMR Corp. rose 3 to 60 1/4.

USAir Group rose 1/2 to 5 7/8.

Delta Airlines rose 4 to 56 3/4

UAL Corp. rose 5 1/4 to 97.

Airline issues rose after Delta said it would cut the 10 percent commissions it pays to travel agents. Other carriers followed suit.

Motorola rose 3/4 to 62 1/4.

Micron rose 2 1/4 to 52 5/8.

Advanced Micro Devices rose 1/4 to 31 1/2.

Semiconductor issues advanced after an industry association reported a favorable gain in its book-to-bill ratio in January.

Morrison Knudsen rose 5/8 to 10 1/4.

William Agee resigned as chairman and chief executive following sharp criticism of his management of the struggling construction giant.

NASDAQ

Novell rose 7/8 to 20 7/8.

Microsoft rose 1/8 to 62.

Adobe rose 3 to 32.

Dell Computer rose 1 5/8 to 44 1/8.

Computer stocks moved broadly higher after the semiconductor industry released book-to-bill ratio figures for January.

Gibson Greetings fell 1 7/8 to 10 1/8.

The greeting-card maker late Thursday said it would post a $2.20-per-share loss for 1994, compared with a net gain of $1.61 per share in 1993.

AMEX

New Mexico & Arizona Land rose 1 1/8 to 10 5/8.

The real estate and mineral exploration company said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profits rose to 94 cents per share from 17 cents a year ago.