Stocks Close Higher Despite Late Selloff: Trading at Faster Pace
NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (AP)ÛÓThe stock market managed to register a relatively small advance today despite a sinking spell in the final half hour of trading.</br></br>The trading pace rose a little but Wall Street experts said the general public displayed scant interest. Most of the activity was credited to the market professionals.</br></br>Two items of good economic news came from Washington during the day but sbme analysts questioned whether they had anything to do with higher stock prices. Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges reported that before-tax profits of corporations hit a record annual rate of $50.9 billion in the June quarter.</br></br>These plusses were offset by a Labor Department report that average weekly pay of factory workers declined in mid August and the seasonally adjusted factory work week also declined.</br></br>The Associated Press average of 60 stocks gained .1 at 223.1 with inllustrials up .7, rails off .8 and utilities up .2. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.96 at 603.99, its highest close of the month, and Standard & PoorÛªs 500-stock index was up .14 at 58.59. In both cases, however, rail