Dow Pushes Closer To Record High

The Dow Jones industrial average crept toward record levels Wednesday as a new report reinforced optimism the Federal Reserve needn’t pump up interest rates aggressively to contain inflation.

The Dow rose 27.74 at 5,754.92, about 24 points shy of its all-time best finish at 5,778.00, set May 22.

Both the Dow and broader measures had sagged in the morning amid some weakness in the bond market. But bond prices jumped higher at noon after the Federal Reserve published the results of its periodic survey on regional business conditions.

The survey found that inflation pressures from rising payroll costs are building, but have yet to translate into substantial price increases.

“There has been no trend of higher pricing with the trend toward higher wage pressures. The Fed cares about prices,” said Scott Bleier, chief investment strategist at Prime Charter. “If the Fed raises rates slightly, it is essentially built into the market. People are aware of it, people expect it.”

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume totaled 375.19 million shares as of 4 p.m., up slightly from Tuesday’s pace.

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

NYSE

Motorola, down 1-3/8 at 49-1/4.

The Schaumburg, Ill.-based company expects its third-quarter profits to fall significantly shy of forecasts.

Micron Technology, up 1/2 at 21-1/2.

Texas Instruments, up 3/8 at 45-3/4.

LSI Logic, up 1/8 at 20-3/4.

National Semiconductor, up 1/4 at 17-1/2.

Intel (Nasdaq), up 3/4 at 85.

A key gauge of the semiconductor industry’s health rose in August after a month’s setback. The Semiconductor Industry Association reported Tuesday that manufacturers got $90 in new orders for every $100 worth of chips shipped.

NASDAQ

Itron, down 8 at 21.

The Spokane-based provider of power-utility products and services expects to post a loss in its third quarter.

Dell Computer, up 2-1/2 at 73-1/2.

The Austin, Texas-based company cut prices on its OptiPlex line of business personal computers up to 16 percent.

Corporate Express, up 1-7/8 at 34-5/8.

United TransNet (NYSE), down 1/2 at 15.

Corporate Express agreed to acquire United TransNet, the nation’s second-largest provider of same-day local delivery services, for stock currently valued at $138 million, or less than $15 a share.