Profit Jitters Stall Dow’s Advance

Stocks ended mixed on Thursday, with small-company indicators continuing to reach new highs while the Dow industrials tried without success to rekindle an assault on the 9,000 mark.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 25.91 points at 8,846.89. At one point late in the day, it shook off an earlier loss of nearly 52 points and was up more than 20, before sagging at the close.

The Dow hit its low after a government report that corporate profits in the final quarter of last year staged the sharpest decline in almost four years. The report for a period early in the Asian crisis raised questions on whether the profit outlook would be even worse this year.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was moderate at 598.42 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from 663.13 million Wednesday. Declining issues narrowly outran advancers on the Big Board.

Broad market indexes were firmer, buoyed again by technology shares.

Given the strength in the broad market, investors seemed almost relieved to see the rip-roaring blue chips slow down just a bit.

“It’s a very good consolidation, considering the substantial appreciation that’s been realized since the beginning of the year, and in 1997 and 1996,” said Ned Riley, chief investment officer at BankBoston.

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

NYSE

McDonald’s Corp. rose 2-3/8 to 55-3/8.

The fast-food restaurant chain will begin rolling out a just-in-time food preparation system across the country. The company expects to take a charge of up to $190 million in the second quarter to begin the rollout.

Texaco Inc. rose 15/16 to 61.

Sun. Co. rose 15/16 to 41-13/16.

USX Marathon rose 1-1/16 to 38-1/16.

Schlumberger rose 3/8 to 78-7/16.

Oil futures rose as Indonesia and Russian energy giant Lukoil became the latest oil producers to announce they would cut exports. Crude oil futures for May delivery closed at $16.83 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up from $16.48 late Wednesday.

NASDAQ

Intel Corp. rose 1-15/16 to 78-3/16.

The chip maker said Andrew Grove will resign as chief executive. He will be succeeded by Craig Barrett, the company’s president. Intel also boosted its stock repurchase program by 100 million shares.

Microsoft fell 9/16 to 88-1/4.

The shares surged 4-1/16 points on Wednesday, after the software maker said late Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit performance would be better than analysts had been anticipating.