Industrials Stage 4.39-Point Gain With Moderately Active Trading
Despite a rise in interest rates, the stock market staged a low-key rally and held most of its gains in moderately active trading.</br></br>Yesterday, U.S. Trust and Bankers Trust raised the rate on loans to brokers to 11% from 10 3/4%. This followed a boost in the prime, or base, rate by major banks Monday to 11 1/2% from 11%.</br></br>After sliding 12.98 points on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 3.56 points in yesterday's first half hour, but was down 1.05 points at noon; again reversing direction, the index showed a gain of 6.91 points at 3 p.m. EST before ending at 1175.77, up 4.39 points. The transportation and utility indicators also advanced.</br></br>New York Stock Exchange gainers exceeded the losers by nearly 3-to-2.</br></br>Some fears of an overheating of the economy were stirred yesterday by the government's announcement that gross national product is growing in the first quarter at an estimated annual rate of 7.2%.