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Stocks Rise On Late Buying By Bargain Hunters

Associated Press

Bargain hunters looking for deals ignited a burst of late-day buying Tuesday, erasing a 35-point loss and sending stocks higher for a third straight session.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 29.63 to 7,037.83, led by strength in shares of 3M, J.P. Morgan and IBM. The finish is second only to the all-time high of 7,067.46 set a week earlier.

Broad-market indexes also ended higher, including the Nasdaq which has been battered in the last week by a sell-off in technology stocks.

“This is a resilient market,” said Larry Wachtel, vice president at Prudential Securities Inc. “If the market gives investors a buying opportunity, they will buy.”

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5-to-4 margin on the New York Stock Exchange where volume totaled 527.43 million shares as of 4 p.m., vs. 459.92 million in the previous session.

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

NYSE

Applied Magnetics, down 4-7/8 at 48-1/8.

Read-Rite, down 7/8 at 32-7/8 on the Nasdaq.

Applied Magnetics, of Goleta, Calif., said late Monday that it proposed to acquire rival computer disk-head supplier Read-Rite Corp., of Milpitas, Calif., for $1.8 billion in stock.

Dillard Department Stores, up 1-5/8 at 29-3/4.

Dillard’s board authorized the repurchase of as much as $300 million of its class A common stock. The Little Rock, Ark., company also announced its fourth-quarter earnings soared to $111.1 million, or 98 cents a share, from $29.1 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier.

Home Depot, up 2-7/8 at 55-1/8.

The Atlanta-based retailer said its profits rose 35 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1996, buoyed by a strong growth in sales.

Wal-Mart, up 1-3/4 at 26-3/8.

The nation’s largest retailer said its earnings for the fourth quarter rose 16 percent and 11 percent for all of 1996, better than Wall Street analysts’ estimates.

NASDAQ

ClinTrials Research, down 13-3/4 at 9-1/2.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based company disclosed it was in an ongoing dispute with one customer that will result in lower fiscal first-quarter earnings.

EchoStar Communications, up 8-3/4 at 26-3/4.

News Corp., up 5/8 at 21-7/8 on the NYSE.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. announced late Monday it will buy 50 percent of EchoStar Communications Corp. for $1 billion.

AMEX

Fina, up 12-3/8 at 62-1/2.

Belgian petroleum products group PetroFina SA will buy the remaining stake in Fina Inc. for $256 million. PetroFina currently holds a 85.4 percent interest in Fina, a Dallas energy concern.