Stocks End Mixed in Busy Session; Elections Are Center of Attention
Stock prices ended mixed yesterday in a surprisingly busy session in which the congressional elections dominated traders' attention.</br></br>Takeover speculation and the expectation of a good response to the Treasury's refinancing operation helped the market recover from a sharp morning decline.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.82 to 1892.44, but the broader market indexes did slightly better. The New York Stock Exchange composite index gained 0.23 to 141.60, and Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 0.40 to 246.20.</br></br>More than 163 million shares changed hands on the Big Board. Advancers outnumbered decliners about 9 to 7.</br></br>Market analysts said they were impressed by the election day volume and the generally upbeat mood among investors. Investors "showed a lot of courage today in the face of unknown results of the elections and the Treasury refinancing operations," said Alfred Goldman, director of technical market analysis at A.G. Edwards in St. Louis.