Stocks Mostly Higher In Brief Trading Session

Stocks were mostly higher Monday as the East Coast blizzard kept many traders and brokers home, forcing the major exchanges to open late and close early.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 16.25 points to finish at 5,197.68 as trading ended two hours early on the New York Stock Exchange. The last time the NYSE shut down early was Feb. 11, 1994, when it closed 90 minutes before the normal time because of snow.

The NYSE, Nasdaq Stock Market and American Stock Exchanges delayed their usual 9:30 a.m. EST openings until 11 a.m. Monday morning. The Nasdaq and Amex also closed early at 2 p.m.

Brian Belski, a market analyst for Dain Bosworth Inc. in Minneapolis, said Monday’s gains continued last week’s defensive posturing.

“The market is setting itself up for a correction,” said Belski “People are sticking with the same themes as last week, selling technology stocks and moving into defensive areas” such as oil, gold, pharmaceuticals and food - sectors that are considered safer during economic downturns.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 11 to 8 on the NYSE.

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

NYSE

Loral, up 8-1/4 to 44-1/2

Lockheed Martin, up 2-7/8 at 80-1/4

Boeing, up 1-3/4 at 80-1/4

General Electric, up 1/2 at 73-3/8

Litton up 1-3/4 to 47-1/8

United Technologies, up 1-1/8 at 94-1/8

Defense and aerospace contractors rose on Lockheed Martin’s offer to acquire most of Loral for $9.1 billion, prompting speculation about more consolidation in the industry. Last week, Westinghouse sold most of its defense electronics business to Northrop Grumman for about $3 billion.

Aluminum Co. of America, down 3 at 52-3/8

Alcoa reported fourth-quarter earnings of 85 cents a share, below Wall Street forecasts.

Homestake, up 3/8 at 17-7/8

Newmont Mining, up 1-1/8 at 51

Gold stocks continued last week’s rally as investors sought hedges against possible weakening in the economy.

NASDAQ

Chantal Pharma, down 11-13/16 at 7-5/16

Barron’s reported that the most of the company’s revenue is owed by an entity whose president has been named as a defendant in numerous lawsuits.

AMEX

Viacom Class B, up 5/8 at 43

Viacom, up 3/8 at 42

The stock fell nearly 9 percent on Friday after three analysts cut their profit estimates for the entertainment conglomerate.