Dow Falters as It Nears Record, Still Gains 8.96

NEW YORK — The stock market settled for some scattered gains today after an early advance stalled.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 8.96 to 2,761.09.

Advancing issues slightly outnumbered declines on the New York Stock Exchange, with 785 up, 726 down and 495 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 184.66 million shares, against 176.82 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index gained .56 to 195.00.

Analysts said traders drew some encouragement from the Commerce Department report that retail sales rose 0.8% in November, exceeding most private estimates.

That eased some worries on Wall Street that slackening consumer spending might be increasing the chances of a recession in the near future.

But interest rates rose a bit after the news, and investors still seemed to be cautious about the outlook for the economy in 1990 and the prospect that corporate profits might remain weak.

Brokers also noted that the market bogged down after the Dow moved within striking distance of the record closing high of 2,791.41 it reached on Oct. 9, before it took a 190-point drop four days later.

U.S. Treasury bond prices turned narrowly mixed in early trading today.

The bellwether 30-year bond was up 3/32 point, or around $1 per $1,000 face amount, and its yield, which goes down when the price rises, fell to 7.87% from 7.88% late Tuesday.

Bonds of shorter maturities were unchanged to slightly lower.

Traders said the bond market had little reaction to government reports today on retail sales and the trade deficit because neither shed any new light on the economy’s direction.

Investors are looking for more evidence of a slowing economy in the hopes that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, thereby pushing up bond prices.

In the secondary market for Treasury securities, prices of short-term issues were off 1/32 point, intermediate-term maturities ranged from unchanged to down 1/32 point and long-term issues were 3/32 point higher, according to the Telerate Inc. financial information service.

The movement of a point is equivalent to a change of $10 in the price of a bond with a $1,000 face value.

The Shearson Lehman Hutton daily Treasury bond index, which measures price movements on outstanding Treasury issues with maturities of a year or longer, fell 0.02 to 1,194.47.