Dow Dips But Most Stocks Edge Up

Most stocks inched higher Wednesday in fitful trading, but the Dow Jones industrial average ended marginally lower one day after shattering the 4,200 barrier for the first time.

Wall Street’s best-known barometer dipped 12 points in early trading, rallied to a net gain of 9 then drifted lower as trading waned. It finished with a loss of 1.04 at 4,200.57.

Stocks were consolidating after some impressive runs.

On Tuesday, the Dow average climbed 33 points to close at a record high of 4,201.61. That was the fifteenth record high since Feb. 15, putting the average up more than 500 points since last Dec. 8.

Those sparkling gains have left investors questioning whether stocks can run any higher.

“The remarkable thing is how well we hold up,” said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Prudential Securities. “If we’re going to take a breather now and then, so be it.”

Volume on the Big Board was moderately heavy at 315.14 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 330.56 million on Tuesday.

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

NYSE

Micron Technology rose 7/8 to 75 1/8.

Texas Instruments rose 2 to 91.

The stocks were recovering from the day’s bottom after Montgomery Securities maintained its “buy” rating on both issues and issued a positive statement about rises in D-RAM pricing. Micron had fallen as much as 3 1/8, to 71, while Texas Instruments fell as far as 86 3/4, down 2 1/8, before recovering.

Motorola rose 1 to 54 3/8.

Craig McCaw is set to invest up to $1.1 billion in Nextel, whose technology is provided by Motorola. Nextel was up sharply in Nasdaq trading.

Morrison Knudsen rose 1 1/4 to 9 3/8.

The company is expected to secure a 60-day bridge loan of $125 million to avoid bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reports.

NASDAQ

Nextel rose 3 3/8 to 16 5/8.

Craig McCaw is set to invest up to $1.1 billion in Nextel, whose technology is provided by Motorola.

AMEX

Resorts International rose 7-16 to 3 1/4.

The stock was gaining for the second day in a row after CNBC’s Dan Dorfman said Heartland Securities analyst Bruce Benteman told him that gaming industry prospects look good, and that Resorts could rise to between 5 and 7 over the next year.