Stocks Hit High Gear With Boost From GM
NEW YORK -- General Motors Corp. put some sizzle in the stock market yesterday. The company's stock split and dividend increase, announced after the market's close Monday, inspired investors to bid prices sharply higher in heavy trading.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 26.07 higher at 2347.14, another post-crash high. Bond prices rose, too. Although the gains in the bond market weren't as spectacular as those in stocks, analysts were impressed that prices could rally in the face of several uncertainties. The dollar climbed modestly.</br></br>Although stock prices opened higher yesterday, blue-chip issues lagged behind the overall market through much of the morning. But as GM shares climbed and rumors of a takeover of Union Carbide surfaced, the trading pace quickened. The Dow Jones industrials were up more than 40 points in midafternoon before profit-taking pulled the average off its highs. GM shares jumped $4.375 to $93.875.</br></br>Analysts said GM's stock split and dividend increase lured investors who were already considering buying stocks. "This isn't just a one-day phenomenon," said Jeffrey Applegate, a market strategist at Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day. "People are looking at fourth-quarter earnings and saying, 'Gee whiz, if a recession isn't going to happen this year, this market is hardly overvalued.'"</br></br>But other market professionals are looking at yesterday's rally with some skepticism. A.C. Moore, head of research at Argus Research, said that enough uncommitted cash remains to fuel the kind of "sprint" the stock market staged yesterday, given the heavy demand for GM and Union Carbide shares and the bond market's unexpectedly good performance.