Dow Gains 9.84 Points On Rates Speculation
NEW YORK, Oct. 30ÛÓWall Street stocks rose today on growing speculation that interest rates will be cut soon, but investor nervousness about the weak state of the economy kept trading choppy.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.84 points to close at 3071.78. Advancing issues outpaced those declining by about 3 to 2 in brisk New York Stock Exchange trading of 195 million shares.</br></br>The Nasdaq over-the-counter index, which has leaped ahead of the Dow and other blue-chip indicators, scored a new closing high of 541.32, up 6.81 from Tuesday and up from the previous record of 540.94 set Oct. 16.</br></br>Despite the gains, traders remained wary about key reports on the economy, including jobless data, due Friday.</br></br>The Federal Reserve may have encouraged a move toward lower rates in the money markets today, when it allowed the benchmark federal funds lending rate to slip below its target of 5.25 percent. The Fed also made an unusual pre-announcement that it planned to make overnight system repurchases on Thursday, adding cash to the banking system. Both moves raised speculation of an easing of interest rates, although some economists maintained they were technical operations to add cash to the banking system and not a signal of policy changes.