Strong Finish Boosts Dow To Record High

Stocks recovered from a morning slump to finish firmer on Friday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to a record high for the third day this week.

The Dow climbed out of a 31-point loss to close 6.57 higher at 4,321.27, topping a record closing high of 4,314.70 set on Thursday.

Advancing issues led decliners by 1,173 to 1,035 on the New York Stock Exchange. Big Board volume was moderately heavy at 322.75 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 350.85 on Thursday.

Stocks declined early in the session along with bonds, after the Chicago Purchasing Management Association said its April index of area economic activity rose to 57.6 from 55 in March.

Investors said the Chicago numbers could foreshadow a surge in manufacturing activity nationwide. A report from the National Association of Purchasing Management is due out on Monday.

“The Purchasing Managers report was a little stronger than people expected,” said Thomas Gallagher, head stock trader at Oppenheimer & Co. “And there is still concern about inflation in oil, gold and silver.”

The markets also reacted negatively to a Labor Department report that import prices jumped 0.6 percent in March, and to a University of Michigan report that its April consumer sentiment rose to 92.5 from 90.3 in March.

“Stocks are pretty fully valued,” said Hugh Johnson, First Albany’s market strategist. “They’ve come a long way very fast without a correction, so now we’re starting to see a correction develop, at least in the broader market.”

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

NYSE

IBM fell 2 1/4 to 94 5/8.

The computer giant is too dependent on a sluggish mainframe market, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Chrysler rose 1 3/8 to 43 1/4.

USA Today reports that the automaker may raise its $1.60 per share annual dividend as early as June, in response to a failed $20 billion takeover bid by Kirk Kerkorian, its largest shareholder.

Disney fell 1 1/4 to 55 3/8.

The entertainment conglomerate is considering buying all or part of Thorn EMI PLC’s music division, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Procter & Gamble rose 1 5/8 to 69 7/8.

The consumer products company said Thursday that its third-quarter net income rose to 88 cents a share from 66 cents a year ago. Both figures reflect special charges.

NASDAQ

Microsoft rose 3 1/8 to 81 3/4.

Intuit fell 5 to 67 3/4.

The companies vowed to fight a Justice Department suit seeking to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Intuit.

Intel rose 13-16 to 102 3/8.

The computer chip maker late Thursday declared a two-for-one stock split and boosted its regular quarterly dividend to 4 cents per post-split share from 3 cents.

AMEX

American Technical Ceramics rose 2 to 7 1/4.

The maker of ceramic capacitors said its third=quarter net income rose to 17 cents per share from 5 cents a year ago and said its improved chip plant will be operational by July 1.