Industrials Slip From Latest High As Stocks Show Little Movement
After stock prices closed at a post-crash high Monday, investors were debating whether money managers would commit more cash to the market or whether profit-taking would stem the rally. The answer turned out to be "yes" on both points.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down a scant 1.16 at 2070.46. Declining issues edged advancing stocks 799-712 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume fell to 200 million shares from 236 million the day before.</br></br>"There was something for everybody in the market" yesterday, Jon Groveman, head trader at Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co., said. "If you're bullish, it was a consolidation, and the market is behaving very well. If you're a bear, it's negative that there was no follow-through from Monday's rally."</br></br>Mr. Groveman said any profit-taking yesterday was offset by cash inflows from money managers anxious that they might miss a continuation of Monday's rally. He blamed the market's waffling on the absence of any factors to fuel a move in either direction, after an increase in takeover activity pushed prices higher Monday.</br></br>"I think the fate of the stock market is still in the bond market," Mr. Groveman said. "Bonds seemed to have a very, very difficult time breaking out of a trading range in the past week. With the bond market staying in one place, there isn't any question that the stock market will have a lot of trouble making a sharp move up from this level."