Dow Surges, But Most Stocks Slide
The Dow Jones Industrial average rallied Wednesday, ending just shy of a record high, although the broader market fell amid worry about inflation and interest rates.
Technology and health maintenance stocks led the Nasdaq Stock Market lower after negative earnings reports in both sectors rattled investors.
The Dow average rose 28.36 to 4,207.49, slightly below the record of 4,208.18 set last Thursday. Still, about 12 points of the advance reflected movement in Eastman Kodak stock after the company posted strong earnings.
Declining issues outnumbered advances by about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Volume on the floor of the Big Board came to a heavy 378.05 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 344.46 million in the previous session.
The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in February, falling by 24.6 percent to $9.01 billion.
That helped lift the dollar off its record low against the Japanese yen set on Tuesday. The dollar’s better performance gave stocks a lift, said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer, First Albany Corp.
Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday:
NYSE
Eastman Kodak, up 5 1/8 to 57 1/2.
The company reported strong firstquarter earnings of 77 cents a share vs. 25 cents in the same three months last year.
USAir Group, up 1 1/4 to 7 1/8.
The company said losses in the first quarter were $1.91 a share vs. a loss of $3.64 a share in the same three months last year.
Reebok, down 2 5/8 to 31 3/8.
On Tuesday, the athletic footwear company posted earnings for the first quarter of 80 cents a share compared with 77 cents in the same three months last year. Analysts’ estimates, however, were for earnings of 87 cents a share. Goldman Sachs & Co. downgraded the stock.
NASDAQ
Lotus Development, unchanged at 30 3/4.
The company reported a firstquarter loss of 36 cents a share vs. earnings last year in the same quarter of 45 cents a share. The stock was down sharply for much of the session, helping to pull down other technology stocks.
AMEX
Moore Medical, up 7/8 to 11 1/8.
The company said first-quarter earnings were 17 cents a share vs. 25 cents in the same three months last year.