Dow Declines on Profit-Taking: THE MARKET
NEW YORK, April 13-The stock market took a backward step today as traders cashed in some of the gains from the rally of the past six sessions.</br></br>The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, up more than 129 points over the last six trading days, slipped 2.98 to 2107.10. Declining issues outnumbered advances by a ratio of about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange.</br></br>Big Board volume came to 185.12 million shares, up from 140.40 million in the previous session. The NYSEÛªs composite index edged up 0.01 to 153.20.</br></br>The marketÛªs decline came despite buying in International Business Machines stock, which rose 2 Zz to 11614.</br></br>Analysts generally gave high marks to the company's first-quarter results, which showed earnings at $1.53 a share, up from $1.30 in the comparable period of 1987.