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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Investors Rattled By Upswing In Interest Rates

Associated Press

Stock prices declined Monday in sympathy with bonds, amid concerns that economic strength might prod interest rates higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 28.85 points to close at 5,693.89. But a rise in tobacco stocks blunted losses among blue chips, after an Indiana jury ruled in the industry’s favor late last week on a smoking liability lawsuit.

Declining issues led advancers by 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, but volume was the second lowest for a full session this year at 281.41 million shares, off significantly from Friday’s pace.

Traders and analysts described a typically slow late-summer session, with many market players out on vacation and remaining investors groping for something upon which to hang their trades.

Weaker bonds provided a slight impetus to sell. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond lost 9-16 point, pushing its yield up to 6.99 percent from 6.94 percent Friday.

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

NYSE

Philip Morris rose 2-3/8 to 90-3/8.

RJR Nabisco rose 1 to 26-1/2.

Loews Corp. rose 1-1/4 to 76.

Culbro rose 3-1/4 to 57.

Tobacco stocks rose sharply after an Indianapolis jury on Friday denied damages to the family of a heavy smoker who died of lung cancer.

Career Horizons rose 5-1/8 to 37.

The company signed a definitive merger with AccuStaff Inc. valued at $1 billion. Career shareholders would receive 1.53 shares of AccuStaff shares for each Career share they hold. AccuStaff’s shares fell 3 to 25 in Nasdaq trading.

Conseco Inc. rose 1-11/16 to 44.

Capitol American Financial rose 9-7/8 to 34-7/8.

Conseco agreed to acquire Capitol American for $650 million in cash and stock and American Travellers for about $793 million in stock. American Travellers’ shares rose 3-3/16 to 31-9/16 in Nasdaq trading.

NASDAQ

Teleport Communications Group rose 1-3/8 to 23-5/8.

AT&T agreed to allow Teleport’s business customers in nine cities to connect with AT&T’s long-distance network as an alternative to access provided by local phone companies.MCI Communications Corp. rose 1-1/4 to 26-3/4.

The long-distance telephone provider agreed to connect its intelligent network to NextWave Telecom Inc.’s planned national personal communications services, or PCS, system, marketing PCS services under the MCI brand and integrating the services with its other communications services.

Under the agreement, MCI said it will be able to offer PCS service to more than 110 million individuals.

NextWave Telecom is a private telecommunications concern based in San Diego.