U.S. Stocks Rise a Bit; Bonds Ease --- Big Board Volume Is Light Following Tokyo Market's Slide
U.S. stock prices edged fractionally higher in thin trading after the Tokyo stock market plunged below an important threshold. Bond prices eased and the dollar was mixed.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 0.45 to 3236.36 in lackluster trading. Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 0.55 to 406.39. But the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.68 to 617.94.</br></br>Traders in the U.S. were braced for some selling after the Nikkei index fell below the psychologically important 20,000 level to 19,837.16, the lowest it has been since February 1987. The decline in Tokyo indicated investors expect Japan's weakening economy to get worse before improving.</br></br>The Japanese market's effect on U.S. stocks was depressing, keeping the industrials in negative territory until moments before the closing bell. Absence of news about the U.S. economy held trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange to a relatively slim 151.3 million shares.</br></br>Traders said investors are awaiting several economic releases this morning, including housing starts, industrial production and consumer prices, all for February. If projections are accurate, the data could lift stock prices more: Both housing starts and industrial production are expected to show some strength and consumer prices to rise modestly.