Dow Drops 5.13 as Election Nears : Market Overview

Wall Street stocks ended mixed, as fresh political uncertainty rippled through the market after a new opinion poll showed President Bush gaining on Democratic opponent Bill Clinton.

* Treasury bond yields moved lower in cautious pre-election trading.

Stocks

Several individual stocks declined sharply on earnings news that disappointed investors, pushing the Dow Jones average down 5.13 points to 3,246.27.

However, in the broader market, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Big Board volume came to an estimated 206.55 million shares, against Wednesday’s 203.91 million.

Analysts said traders were keeping a close watch on developments in the election campaign, including polls showing Bush narrowing the margin by which he trails Clinton.

Among the market highlights:

* Data General tumbled 2 1/8 to 10 7/8. Fourth-quarter earnings fell to 1 cent a share from 53 cents in the period a year earlier.

* Cooper Industries slumped 6 1/2 to 46 1/4. The company reported lower third-quarter profit, citing a “continuing slow-growth global economy.”

* Triton Energy slumped 4 1/8 to 38 1/2. An oil field in Colombia in which both Triton and British Petroleum have stakes was estimated to have reserves of 2 billion barrels, a figure below some analysts’ expectations.

* Beneficial fell 2 3/4 to 57 1/2. The company posted higher third-quarter earnings but said it might show a year-over-year profit decline in the fourth quarter.

* Paramount Communications dropped 3/8 to 43. Brandon Tartikoff resigned as chairman, citing a family obligation.

* Software retailer Egghead gained 1 3/8 to 9 3/4 on a report that discount giant Kmart is interested in acquiring it.

* Stocks that contributed to the Dow’s decline included International Business Machines, down 1 1/8 to 66; Exxon, down 3/8 to 62 1/8; Walt Disney, down 5/8 to 39 5/8; Caterpillar, down 3/8 to 51 7/8, and Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, down 3/8 to 103 3/8.

* In NASDAQ trading, technology stocks held the spotlight. Legent rose 1 1/4 to 45 1/4, Sun Microsystems 1/2 to 35 3/8, Novell 7/8 to 31 1/2 and Apple Computer 1 to 53 1/4. But Intel dropped 3/4 to 66 1/2.

Overseas, worries about higher taxes and interest rates plus gloomy corporate profit forecasts battered Frankfurt share prices. The 30-share DAX average lost 16.66 points to 1,493.64.

In Tokyo, the 225-share Nikkei average slipped 130.70 points to 16,937.71.

London’s 100-share Financial Times index dropped 8.1 points to 2,642.3.

Credit

Bonds traded in a narrow price range.

The yield on the Treasury’s main 30-year bond dropped to 7.57% from 7.61% Wednesday. The price, which moves inversely to yield, rose 12/32 point, or $3.75 cents per $1,000 in face amount.

Economists speculated that the tighter presidential race was helping the bond market, but many large players stayed out of the market.

Concerns that a Clinton Administration would raise the deficit and inflation through higher government spending--which would hurt bonds--pushed prices lower earlier this month. Clinton has said that he intends to cut the deficit, and the market has backed away from the selloff.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, was 3.063%, down from 3.375% Wednesday.

Currency

The dollar ended mixed after trading in a narrow range because of a lack of market-affecting news.

Meanwhile, the German mark benefited from the fact that the central bank has made no move to lower interest rates. In New York, the dollar fetched 1.538 marks, down from 1.546 Wednesday.

High rates tend to boost a currency by making investments denominated in that currency worth more than those abroad.

The dollar rose to 123.28 Japanese yen from Wednesday’s 123.18.

Commodities

Energy futures prices fell sharply on the New York Mercantile Exchange, led lower by heating oil.

On other markets, copper was higher, precious metals were mixed, grains and soybeans gained, and livestock and meat futures were mixed.

The drop in heating oil futures prices came in reaction to a Department of Energy report that distillate supplies, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 3 million barrels in the latest week.

Light, sweet crude oil for December delivery settled 41 cents lower at $20.71 a barrel. November heating oil fell 1.89 cents lower at 59.51 cents a gallon.

Meanwhile, gold and silver futures were mixed on New York’s Commodity Exchange, with gold rising 10 cents to $339.50 an ounce. Silver was 0.5 cent lower at $3.765 an ounce.

Market Roundup, D6