NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks climbed to records yesterday as Exxon Corp., Schlumberger Ltd. and other oil companies advanced with the price of crude. DuPont Co. gained on plans to boost its drug, nutrition and agricultural chemicals business.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 79.08, to a record 9,772.84, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 7.00, to a record 1,286.84.
The Nasdaq composite index added 13.06, to 2,406.00, a little more than 100 points short of its Feb. 1 high of 2,510.09.
Elsewhere on the broad market, the Russell 2,000 index, a benchmark of small-cap stocks, rose 1.92, to 401.12; the Wilshire 5,000 index jumped 62.38, to 11,717.07, about 7 points shy of its record; the American Stock Exchange composite index advanced 3.69, to 715.14; and the S&P; 400 midcap index added 1.25, to 365.50.
The Sun-Bloomberg Maryland index of the top 100 Maryland stocks gained 0.28, to 182.17.
About five stocks rose for every four that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where trading volume was about 845.3 million shares.
Oil stocks gained after the world's top producers agreed to meet in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, this week to discuss cutting production to boost prices.
Exxon jumped $3.1875, to $73.125, and Schlumberger rose $3.1875, to $58.50. Chevron Corp. shot up $3.3125, to $83.25. Halliburton Co., another oil service firm, added $4.25, to $36.50, and Smith International Inc. gained $3.75, to $34.
Crude climbed 84 cents a barrel to $14.69 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on news of the meeting, to an 11-month high, and the Philadelphia oil service sector index rose 11 percent to a two-month high.
DuPont Co. rose $3.8125, to $57.375, contributing most to the Dow average's gain, after saying it will issue a tracking stock for its life sciences business and expects to sign one or more alliances with drug companies this year.
J. P. Morgan & Co. advanced $2.50, to $118.875. The company's business has picked up and money flow analysis shows that investors are confident of further gains.
Citigroup Inc. rose $1.50, to $64, after analysts at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. raised their estimates for this year and 2000 on the world's largest financial services company, citing continued strength in the brokerages.
Fluor Corp. fell $4.3125, to $30, and was the biggest loser in the S&P; 500 after the largest U.S. engineering and construction company said its business is slowing.
Computer Associates International Inc. tumbled $6, to $34. Demand for business software could slow as companies cut back on spending as the year 2000 approaches, said analyst Charles Phillips at Morgan Stanley, who cut his investment rating on Computer Associates to "neutral" from "outperform."
SAP AG, the world's largest maker of business computer software, fell $1.375, to $26, after indicating at an analysts' meeting that 1999 first-quarter earnings won't meet expectations because of slumping demand. Oracle Corp., the No. 1 database software maker, fell 81.25 cents, to $37.9375.
America Online Inc. gained $2.75, to $92.875; Yahoo! Inc. climbed $6.3125, to $173.625; and Amazon.com Inc. rose $7.1875, to $137.125, after Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Henry Blodget told the firm's clients to buy the stocks.
Lycos Inc. rose $13.75, to $110, after CMGI Inc., the biggest Lycos shareholder, said it hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to find buyers other than USA Networks Inc. for the No. 3 Internet search service. CMGI Chairman David Wetherell, who quit Lycos' board Monday, said he has begun talks with other potential acquirers. Lycos' shares have gained $26.125 in two days.
Northern Telecom Ltd. jumped $4, to $62, after the No. 2 North American phone-equipment maker said AT&T; Corp. is testing Nortel products that direct voice and data on phone networks, a potential blow to rival Lucent Technologies Inc. AT&T;, the No. 1 U.S. phone company, traditionally bought most of its switching gear from Lucent, which it spun off in 1996. Lucent fell $2.3125, to $106.625.
Pub Date: 3/11/99