Dow Starts Out Week on Quiet Note, Up 4.95

NEW YORK —  The stock market was little changed in slow trading today, getting off to a sluggish start on a new week.

Japanese stocks rallied sharply today, rebounding from their drop of more than 25% since the start of the year. The Nikkei index of 225 Japanese issues soared nearly 4%.

But little of that bargain-hunting enthusiasm was transmitted to the U.S. market.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 4.95 to 2,722.07.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 661 up, 824 down and 509 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 114.97 million shares, against 137.49 million in the previous session.

The NYSE’s composite index gained .57 to 187.35.

Brokers noted that many observers had regarded the sell-off in Tokyo as largely an isolated phenomenon, reflecting forces within the market there.

Since the American markets did not share much in Tokyo’s malaise, analysts said, it stood to reason that they would also not play much of a part in the recovery.

In addition, observers said traders were reluctant to bid for stocks just ahead of the first-quarter earnings reports due out over the next few weeks, which are expected to show the effects of continued weakness in economic growth.

Bond prices fell this morning, hurt by the impact of a weakened dollar and anxiety over an anticipated supply glut from new issues of federal government debt due later this week.

The Treasury’s key 30-year bond dropped about 7/16 point or $4.37 1/2 per $1,000 in face amount. Its yield, which rises when the price falls, reached 8.55% by late morning, vs. 8.51% at the close of trading Friday.

Bond market strategists said the weakness stemmed largely from an expected sale of billions of dollars worth of medium- and long-term bonds, which could create a temporary oversupply and dilute the value of existing bonds.

The Resolution Funding Corp., the entity created to finance the bailout of the nation’s ailing thrifts, is selling $3.5 billion worth of new 40-year bonds Tuesday. The next day, the Treasury is selling $7.5 billion of 7-year issues.

Some brokers attributed part of the market’s weakness today to a slightly lower exchange rate for the dollar, which makes investments in U.S. securities worth less. The dollar appeared to fall in reaction to a weekend meeting of finance ministers from the United States and its key trading partners, who said the Japanese yen’s recent slide could have undesirable consequences.

In the secondary market for Treasury bonds, prices of short-term governments fell 1/16 to 1/8 point, intermediate maturities fell 3/16 to 5/16 point and long-term issues fell about 7/16 point, the Telerate Inc. financial information service reported.

The movement of a point equals a change of $10 in the price of a bond with a $1,000 face value.