Rails Fall but Market Inches to Slight Gain: Copper Stocks Advance
NEW YORK, March 16 (AP)ÛÓRailroad shares took sharp losses because of a renewed threat of a rail strike but gains by other sections of the list kept the stock market on an even keel today. Trading was moderately active.</br></br>The new danger of a rail walkout saw some of the leading carriers fall a point or more. For a while it looked as if the declining rails would draw down the whole market. A spate of late buying near the end, however, repaired some of the damage and the worst that could be said for stocks as a whole was that they were mixed.</br></br>The verdict of popular market indicators was conflicting. The Dow Jones industrial average nudged to a new peak of 816.48 with a gain of .26. Standard & PoorÛªs 500-stock index closed unchanged at 79.14. The Associated Press average declined.</br></br>Copper stocks made renewed gains amid widening reports of price increases for the red metal. Cigarette issues rallied following additional published reports that cigarette sales, which fell sharply following the Government report on smoking and health, were recovering.</br></br>Electrical equipments held fairly steady despite news of impending trials of damage suits based on price-fixing prosecutions of four years ago. Airlines, chemicals and farm implements were up on balance. Steels were off, motors scrambled. Volume was 5.16 million shares compared with 5.67 million Friday.