Fed Decision Triggers Stock Rally

Stocks bounded ahead Tuesday with the Dow Jones industrial average closing just shy of its all-time high.

The market’s advance impressed analysts because it came despite a midafternoon sell-off that temporarily knocked stock gauges back near their starting points of the day.

The Dow industrials ended at 4,436.44, up 40.81 points and only a shade below the prior peak of 4,437.47 hit May 15.

Heavy volume on the New York Stock Exchange also was regarded as a healthy omen for stocks. Volume on the Big Board’s floor swelled to 362.67 million shares as of 4 p.m. Eastern time from 285.59 million on Monday.

Advancing NYSE stocks outnumbered declines by about 7 to 4. The NYSE composite index rose 2.28 to 283.80.

Helping Wall Street regain its composure in afternoon trading was news that an interest rate policy meeting in Washington concluded without any surprises.

The Federal Reserve’s policy arm, the Federal Open Market Committee, met for about three hours in private and adjourned until July 5 after apparently deciding to leave rates where they are for now.

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

NYSE

Crown Cork & Seal, up 5 1/2 to 47 1/4.

The stock jumped as investors welcomed news that Crown Cork has agreed to acquire France’s Carnaud-Metalbox, giving Crown Cork a dominant position in the global packaging business.

International Business Machines, up 2 to 97 1/4.

Technology issues were leading the market higher. Intel was up 2 1/2 to 116 1/2 and Cisco Systems was up 3 5/8 to 47 5/8, both in Nasdaq trading.

Texas Instruments, up 4 3/4 to 124 3/8.

Semiconductor stocks were among the strongest of the technology issues amid speculation that demand will remain strong for computers. Motorola rose 2 1/4 to 62.

NASDAQ

Rawlings Sporting Goods, down 1 1/2 to 10 1/8.

The sporting goods company’s stock sank after Rawlings reduced its 1995 revenue estimate, citing the negative aftereffects of the baseball strike.

AMEX

Medco Research, down 1 1/4 to 14.

The stock was active following news that Medco is buying the biotechnology company Repligen for about $51.5 million.. Nasdaq-listed Repligen rose 7/8 to 2 3/8.