Stock Market Snaps Four-Day Losing Streak

Heartened by falling bond market interest rates, stock investors resumed buying Tuesday, looking for bargains among shares that had been beaten down by four straight days of losses.

Some encouraging second-quarter earnings reports helped support the market, analysts said.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 31.03 to 5,581.86. In the four previous sessions, Wall Street’s best-known indicator tumbled 179.15 points, or 3 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume totaled 379.19 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 366.10 million on Monday.

The market’s weakness in recent days has been spurred by fears that the economy was speeding ahead too fast and that the Federal Reserve Board was about to boost consumer and business lending rates to slow it down as a way to forestall a resurgence in inflation.

On Tuesday, the bond market rallied, sending its rates downward, and that helped spur stock buying, said Robert Freedman, chief investment officer for the John Hancock Funds in Boston.

“I think there’s some bargain hunting out there,” he said.

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

NYSE

Nike Inc., up 4-1/2 to 108-3/4.

The athletic shoe maker reported fourth-quarter profits of $1.06 per share, besting Wall Street predictions of about 98 cents.

International Paper Co., up 1-5/8 to 39-1/8.

The paper and pulp company reported quarterly profits of 33 cents per share, besting Wall Street predictions in the mid-20s.

LSI Logic Corp., down 2 to 21-1/2.

SoundView Financial Group lowered its investment rating on the Milpitas, Calif.-based maker of computer chips to hold from buy.

Hewlett-Packard Co., down 4 to 87-1/2.

The maker of computer hardware dropped the prices on some of its notebook computers. A Bear Stearns analyst lowered his 1996 earnings estimate, citing weakness in Europe.

NASDAQ

Symantec Corp., down 1-3/8 to 10.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based maker of utilities software for personal computers said revenues for the quarter ended in June will be below analyst expectations.

AMEX

Viacom Inc., down 1-1/4 to 36.

The owner of Paramount Pictures and MTV was among several media conglomerates mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article that said earnings and stock prices for the sector have been weak due to high debt and problems integrating their diverse businesses. Walt Disney Co. fell 1-1/2 to 57-1/2.