Dow Tumbles In Step With Boeing Earnings

Boeing and AlliedSignal spoiled this week’s stream of reassuring profit reports, but stocks suffered only minor losses Wednesday as the overall trend remained positive.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 25.79 to 8,034.65 after nearly turning higher during the final hour. Without a steep decline by Boeing and AlliedSignal, the Dow would have finished with a slight gain, extending its speedy recovery from last week’s sell-off.

Most broad-market measures also paused in this week’s rebound, which was triggered by strong third-quarter reports from IBM, Microsoft, Citicorp, Chase Manhattan and AT&T.

Boeing, however, startled investors by disclosing that the well-publicized bottlenecks at its overburdened factories had left the aerospace giant with an unexpected loss for the third quarter.

AlliedSignal, meanwhile, reported a thirdquarter profit that was only a shade below Wall Street forecasts, but it was the first time in recent memory that the maker of aerospace, automotive and chemical products had come up short.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 4-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,228 up, 1,649 down and 543 unchanged.

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

NYSE

Boeing, down 4-1/8 at 49-7/8.

The aerospace giant will report an unexpected third-quarter loss because of problems keeping up with its booming orders for commercial jets. Boeing also warned that the production problems will hurt its profits into next year.

AlliedSignal, down 3-1/4 at 40-1/4.

The maker of aerospace, automotive and chemical products reported that its third-quarter earnings rose 15 percent, but the results were a shade below Wall Street expectations.

Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, up 5-3/4 at 100-3/8.

The maker of tape, scouring pads and industrial and electronics products reported an 8.5 percent improvement in third-quarter profits that was slightly above forecasts.

NASDAQ

Netscape Communications, down 3-3/16 at 36-5/8.

SoundView Financial lowered its short-term rating on the Internet software company to “hold” from “buy,” Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Oak Hill Sportswear, up 1-1/16 at 2-7/16.

The women’s accessories concern acquired Watkins Contracting of San Diego, for $3.6 million cash and 400,000 restricted common shares. Watkins provides demolition services and hazardous materials remediation.

Mehl/Biophile International, up 5/16 at 2-1/8.

The Florida-based company signed a deal for KE Medical Zurich of Switzerland to market, install and service Mehl’s Chromos 694 ruby laser hair removal system in 10 European countries.