Blue-Chip Rally Pushes Dow To Record High

Blue-chip stocks shot to record highs in the final hours of trading Thursday, turning around a lackluster session in which investors mostly reacted to individual earnings reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 24.93 to 4,802.45, beating its record close of 4,801.80 set Sept. 14. The blue-chip index dawdled for most of the day, then advanced 20 points after 2 p.m. on technical influences.

Despite the closing strength in the industrial average, declining issues edged advances on the New York Stock Exchange. Big Board volume was high at 406.62 million shares, but down from 411.28 million on Wednesday.

Traders and analysts said the double expiration of options and futures today was responsible for most of the late gains. But investors also reacted all day to earnings reports, which in many cases defied expectations.

“There have been a lot of accidents,” said David Shulman, Salomon Brothers’ market strategist. “There have been upside surprises and downside surprises, but the upside surprises have been less surprising.”

Some of the stocks that moved substantially Thursday:

NYSE

General Instrument fell 7 to 20.

The company said late Wednesday that its third-quarter operating net income dropped to 40 cents per diluted share from 44 cents a year ago, and that its 1996 operating results were expected to be on par with those of 1995.

Nokia Corp.’s American depositary shares fell 9 to 59-7/8.

Motorola fell 2-3/8 to 65-1/8.

Finland’s telecommunications group Nokia Oy said there was “uncertainty” regarding the outlook of the U.S. cellular phone market. While total operating profit rose 76 percent in the first eight months of the year, net sales fell 2.5 percent.

First Interstate fell 3/8 to 139-7/8.

Wells Fargo fell 5/8 to 228-3/8.

Wells made a $10 billion hostile bid for First Interstate on Wednesday. Analysts said First Interstate may seek other offers.

Computer Associates rose 3-3/4 to 48-3/4.

The company reported second-quarter net operating earnings of 68 cents per share, up from 52 cents a year ago. Analysts had projected 62 cents.

Nasdaq

Apple Computer fell 2-5/8 to 34-5/8.

The computer maker said late Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net profit sank 48 percent.

AMEX

Ivax fell 1-7/8 to 25-3/8.

The stock was extending Wednesday’s 4-1/2-point drop, after the company said it will merge with Hafslund Nycomed AS of Norway. The $3.25 billion merger would combine the world’s largest generic drug company with the biggest maker of chemical dyes that help doctors read X-rays.