Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401240253
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
NEW YORK - Strength in economically sensitive stocks combined with options-related buying to propel the Dow Jones industrial average past 3,900 Friday, only about two weeks after it crossed 3,800.
The popular blue-chip performance gauge maintained modest to moderate gains throughout the session, thanks largely to a big jump in Caterpillar's price.
A flood of buy orders in the late going gave a boost to the market in general and enabled the Dow to expand its advance. It ended at 3,914.48, 22.52 points above Thursday's record level.
The indicator has had a strong run this year; it first closed above 3,800 Jan. 6, when it hit 3,803.88.
"It's really a no-fun kind of a rally. The Dow is making new highs, but the rest of the market is so-so," said Don Hays, investment strategist at Wheat First-Butcher & Singer. "We're experiencing a very lackadaisical bull market."
An upbeat income statement from Caterpillar caused the stock to jump 4 3/4 to 98 3/4 and was one of the chief forces behind the rise in the Dow industrials.
Caterpillar, parent of Carter Machinery of Salem, is in the "cyclical" category of companies that typically prosper when economic conditions improve. - Associated Press
by CNB