Blue Chips Lead Broad Market Decline: Profits Squeeze a Factor
NEW YORK, Oct. 18 (AP)ÛÓSagging blue chips dragged the stock market down to a fairly sharp loss in quiet trading today.</br></br>Pivotal issues fell from fractions to more than a point on a broad front. A number of selected issues met enough speculative demand, however, to move higher in active dealings.</br></br>The market was still laboring under the technical disadvantage of having failed to carry its recovery move through the 600 level in the Dow Jones industrial average. After approaching it in yesterdayÛªs first hour it backed away. At the same time, business news was unencouraging.</br></br>Third quarter earnings reports continued to reflect a squeeze on profits. The sharp drop in housing starts reported for September brought this figure down to the lowest level since the 1958 recession and prompted Government economists to begin reassessing the economic future.</br></br>The market was slightly lower at the start, deepened its losses with no particular selling pressure, then steadied somewhat In late dealing when some of the higher-priced .stocks pared their losses.