Stock Market Closes Mixed; Dow Average Up 11.22 Points
Prices closed mixed on Wall Street today, bolstered by a stronger dollar and a recovery in Treasury bond prices, but buffeted by program trading and profit taking.</br></br>Big Board volume totaled 179.84 million shares, compared with 186.41 million in the previous session.</br></br>The Dow Jones average changed direction several times during the session while the margin of gainers to losers remained narrow.</br></br>"It's a battle of bargain hunters versus profit takers. The bargain hunters won in blue chips, and profit takers won elsewhere," said Michael Metz, a stock market analyst with Oppenheimer & Co.</br></br>They said the market took strength during the session from the stronger dollar and improvement in bond prices. On Tuesday, when the Dow Jones average tumbled more than 44 points, the decline was attributed to a weaker dollar and lower bonds.