Dow Cracks 4,000 Level Finally
Stocks vaulted to record highs Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average above the critical 4,000 barrier.
The blue chip index closed 30.38 higher at 4,003.33, after jumping as much as 48 points to 4,020.49 before paring its gains.
The rally in stocks was broad but not exceedingly deep. Advancing issues led decliners by about 13 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Big Board volume was very heavy at 394.12 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 339.16 million Wednesday.
Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday:
NYSE
Telefonos de Mexico’s American depositary receipts fell 7/8 to 28 7/8.
The New York-traded shares of Mexican companies fell sharply in sympathy with a better than 5-percent drop in the Mexican stock market.
RJR Nabisco rose 1/4 to 5 5/8.
Philip Morris rose 1 to 59 1/4.
Tobacco stocks moved higher following a mistrial in an Indiana lawsuit brought by a lung cancer sufferer.
Morrison Knudson rose 1 3/4 to 8 7/8.
The company was meeting with creditors to try to restructure its debt and seek new financing.
Toastmaster fell 3/4 to 5 7/8.
The company said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net earnings fell to 26 cents per share from 30 cents.
Compaq fell 2 to 34 1/8.
The computer maker’s stock was dropped from Morgan Stanley’s “buy” list.
NASDAQ
Multimedia rose 8 to 37 1/8.
The company is reviewing its strategic alternatives, including selling itself.
Scimed Life Systems rose 2 3/8 to 67 7/8.
Shareholders of Boston Scientific and Scimed agreed to merge in a $1 billion stock swap. Boston Scientific rose 1 to 20 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Altera Corp. rose 1 to 52.
Merrill Lynch raised its earnings estimates on Wednesday, saying firstquarter sales were stronger than expected.
AMEX
Viacom “B,” fell 1 1/2 to 45 1/4.
The stock has been falling since the House approved the repeal of a tax break for minority broadcasters upon which Viacom was counting as part of a sale of its cable system.
Cheyenne Software rose 3/4 to 16 3/8.
The company said it would buy back up to 4 million common shares, or 10 percent of the shares outstanding.