Late Rebound Lifts Dow To Record

Energy shares led a late rebound Wednesday, boosting all major stock measures to record highs, as crude oil prices rose sharply after sinking to a nine-year low in recent days.

The Dow Jones industrial average erased a 43-point drop and rose 25.41 to 8,775.40 for its third straight record close.

Broad-market indicators also mounted an afternoon recovery for the second straight day.

“What the market is telling us is that we’re nearing the end of the preannouncement season and the fundamental backdrop hasn’t changed,” said Tony Dwyer, chief equity strategist at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co.

Energy-related shares - weighed down in recent days by a four-month plunge in oil prices - posted big gains as crude jumped in futures trading amid hopes that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might cut back on production.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by an 8-to-7 margin on the NYSE, where volume totaled 632.69 million shares - heavy, but down from Tuesday’s hefty tally of 680.96 million.

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

NYSE

Bay Networks, up 2-1/2 at 26-1/2.

Several brokerages upgraded the stock, which slid 10 percent late Tuesday after the networking technology concern warned that it will post disappointing revenues and profits for its third quarter ending March 28.

Avis Rent A Car, down 1-9/16 at 33-7/8.

An offering of 6 million common shares of the car rental company was priced at $34 each. The size of the offering was increased from an originally planned 5 million shares.

Chase Manhattan, up 3-3/8 at 138-1/8.

The stock rose for a second day after the bank announced plans to eliminate about 4,500 jobs, split its stock 2-for-1 and raise its dividend by 16 percent.

Arrow Electronics, down 3 at 30-3/4.

The distributor of electronic components warned that its first-quarter earnings will come in shy of Wall Street forecasts due to a pervasive weakness in the overall electronics market.

NASDAQ

Jabil Circuit, down 4-11/16 at 34-25/32.

The circuit-board maker reported a quarterly profit that met expectations, but warned that coming quarters would see a slowing of operating-income growth.

DataMark Holding, up 1-1/4 at 4-1/4.

The marketing concern agreed to acquire Digital Courier International, an Internet software company, for 5.8 million common shares.