Heavy Selling Pounds Market to Sharp Loss
NEW YORK, Jan. 6ÛÓ The stock market dropped to its sharpest loss in almost 19 months Monday amid waves of selling generated by fears of a domestic economic equeeze, a harder U.S. line in the Vietnam peace talks and a possible eruption in the smoldering Middle East situation.</br></br>The idling hit virtually all lectors of the market. Less than. one-fifth of the 1574 Issues traded were able to advance. Not one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial average could rise.</br></br>The Dow industrials finished the day with a loss of 15.23 points at 936.66. It was the biggest one-day drop in</br></br>Standard and PoorÛªs 500-stock composite was down 1.52 points to 102.47 and the New York Stock Exchange index dropped 0.87 points to 58.08.</br></br>The one redeeming factor from a technical standpoint was the lack of exceptional volume. Some brokers said during the day that they have not yet become accustomed ' to the four-hour schedule that took effect last Thursday. The final total Showed 12.72 million shares traded, virtually unchanged from the 12.75 million that traded on Friday. The ExchangeÛªs ticker was late at the opening, fell behind again when the selling picked up some momentum around mid-day and trailed by four minutes at the close.