Stocks Limp To Small Gains In Holiday Trading

Stocks posted meager gains Monday in lifeless Columbus Day trading as the first full week of third-quarter profit reports began on an upbeat note.

The Dow Jones industrial average rallied nearly 70 points in the opening minutes, and then limped lower for the remainder of the session, closing with a gain of just 27.01 at 8,072.22.

While the Dow is still languishing nearly 200 points below its Aug. 6 peak at 8,259.31, the blue-chip barometer is still sporting a gain of more than 2,000 points, or more than 33 percent, since last Columbus Day, when it closed above the 6,000-mark for the first time.

Most broad-market indexes also finished with slim gains on Monday after retreating from an early spurt. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies scraped together a tiny gain in the final minutes to close at a record high for the third straight session.

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

NYSE

Reed International, up 6-1/4 at 41.

Elsevier, up 3-5/8 at 33-1/4.

Reed Elsevier, a publishing venture between the two companies, agreed to merge with Dutch competitor Wolters Kluwer. The new company, Elsevier Wolters Kluwer, will be a major publisher of trade journals and electronic information.

Travelers Group, up 13/16 at 75-5/16.

The financial services conglomerate reported a third-quarter profit of $822.8 million, beating Wall Street forecasts.

NASDAQ

Netcom On-Line Communications Services, up 6-1/16 at 21-3/16.

ICG Communications agreed to acquire Netcom for stock valued at $283.5 million, or $22.65 a share. Netcom, based in San Jose, Calif., is an Internet service provider. ICG, based in Englewood, Colo., is a provider of local and longdistance phone and data services.

Neoprobe, down 1-3/4 at 12.

U.S. Surgical and Neoprobe terminated a marketing agreement covering Neoprobe’s cancer-detection products.

Metricom, up 1-7/8 at 14-3/4.

Vulcan Ventures, the investment firm run by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is taking a controlling stake in the wireless network and Internet services company. Vulcan, based in Bellevue, Wash., is buying 4.65 million shares from Metricom for $56 million and purchasing 2.58 million more shares from Lindner Group.

AMEX

B.A.T Industries, up 1-13/16 at 20.

The British tobacco company is discussing a $32 billion merger of its financial services arms with Zurich Group, a major Swiss insurance company.