Dow Reaches 5,048.84 In Shortened Session

Stocks inched to unprecedented heights again Friday, in a quiet session shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.23 at 5,048.84, topping Wednesday’s record close of 5,041.61 and gaining 58.89 for the week. The market was closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, and it closed at 1 p.m. Friday.

The blue-chip index traded narrowly throughout the morning, gaining as much as 16 points but then retreating somewhat. The Dow index has made new highs in seven out of the last nine trading days, and its 62nd new high for the year, as hopes have increased for an interest-rate cut in December after the Federal budget dispute is resolved.

Lower rates are considered positive for the equities market because they would make stocks more attractive relative to fixed-return investments like bonds. Lower rates also cut corporate financing costs and thus push earnings higher.

Stocks got a little lift Friday from bonds and the dollar, and from the traditional optimism that usually holds sway around Thanksgiving.

The 30-year Treasury bond rose 13/16 point to yield 6.24 percent. The dollar rose against the Japanese yen and German mark.

But activity on Wall Street was so quiet that traders were reluctant to draw many conclusions from the day’s activities.

“It’s a typical after-Thanksgiving market,” said Eugene Peroni, a technical analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia. “There’s extremely low volume, but a good day in terms of the rally, mostly in the Dow.”

Some of the stocks that moved substantially Friday:

NYSE

Home Shopping Network rose 1 to 9-1/2.

Barry Diller is set to take control of the Home Shopping Network, USA Today reported Friday. The newspaper said Diller, who already is a director of HSN, will become chairman in a pending deal with Tele-Communications Inc., the nation’s largest cable TV operator.

PP&L Resources rose 2-1/2 to 25-7/8.

The stock replaced CBS in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index after the close of trading Friday. PP&L is a holding company for Pennsylvania Power & Light based in Allentown.

J.M. Smucker Co. rose 7/8 to 18.

The company said it would sell its ailing Mrs. Smith’s frozen-pie unit to Chicago-based SBI Brands Inc. in an effort to focus on its jams and jellies business. Analysts put the price at about $84 million, about what the Orrville, Ohio, company paid for the pie concern.

NASDAQ

System Software fell 4-5/8 to 32-7/8.

The company has sued Owens-Illinois Inc. alleging non-payment of fees, and Owens-Illinois has countersued. Robertson Stephens & Co. downgraded the stock to “long-term attractive” from “buy,” saying the suit may harm the software maker’s business.

AMEX

Echo Bay rose 3/36 to 9-3/4.

Pegasus Gold rose 1/8 to 12-3/4.

Royal Oak Mines rose 1/16 to 3-15/16.

Gold stocks rose with gold prices. Republic National Bank said late Friday that gold had risen 95 cents per ounce in New York.