Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.banks From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: banks Thu, Apr 23 1992 Date: Thu, 23 Apr 92 05:38:05 EDT Message-ID: 04-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update April 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network STOCKS MIXED WEDNESDAY: Small stocks rose, but the Dow fell slightly Wednesday as some investors moved to the sidelines. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 4.48 points to 3338.77. Most other indexes also fell, but NASDAQ's over-the-counter composite index gained 3.18 points to 578.23. Losers beat winners 874 to 832 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was heavy at 219 million shares. LITTLE FLUCTUATION IN STOCKS: Stock averages traded in a narrow band Wednesday, in stark contrast to the volatile trading last week. James Andrews, trader at Janney Montgomery Scott, says absence of the good earnings news that boosted stock last week had cooled investors' interest in stocks. "There's not any euphoria or other reason" for investors to get in there and do some buying, he says. BANK STOCKS RISE: Bank stocks surged Wednesday on good earnings news. Wells Fargo added 3 5:8 to $79 3:4, after rising 9 7:8 Tuesday on better-than expected earnings. Citicorp climbed 1 1:8 to $19 3:8 after gaining 1 1:2 Tuesday on 118% higher first-quarter earnings. Bankers Trust gained 3 1:8 to $58 1:4 after Merrill Lynch rated the bank a long-term buy. Also rising: BankAmerica, Chase Manhattan. NIKKEI RISES: In Tokyo Thursday, the Nikkei average rose 283.22 points to close the morning session (10 p.m. EDT) at 17,122.34. On Wednesday, the Nikkei stemmed a steady flow of losses, rising 51.79 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 16,839.12 points. PERSONAL INCOME RISES SLOWLY: Per-capita personal income grew more slowly last year than any year since 1958, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Commerce said personal income averaged $19,082 per person - up 2.1% over 1990 but the slowest growth since 1958's 1% gain. Per-capita income grew 5.4% in 1990, 6.9% in 1989, and 7.1% in 1988. The recession, layoffs and overtime cuts were blamed by economists. CD YIELDS MIXED: Bank certificate of deposit yields were mixed in the week ending Wednesday, according to Bank Rate Monitor. Average yield: Six-month, 3.85% vs. 3.88%; 1-year, 4.12% vs. 4.14%; 2 1:2-year, 5.02% vs. 5.02%; 5-year, 6.19% vs. 6.16%. EARNINGS DOWN AT MOBIL: Mobil, the USA's second-largest oil company, says the recession and falling fuel prices pushed first-quarter earnings down 82%. Net income dropped to $127 million, or 28 cents a share, including $105 million in restructuring and other charges, from $710 million, or $1.73 a share, a year earlier. Mobil Chairman Allen Murray says slow economic growth around the world hurt business. BANK MERGER TAKES EFFECT: The merger of BankAmerica Corp. and Security Pacific Corp. took effect Tuesday. The nation's biggest bank merger, which passed questions concerning antitrust issues, creates the USA's second-largest bank with about $200 billion in assets, $150 billion in deposits and hundreds of branches in 10 states. Only Citicorp, with $217 billion in assets, is larger. NYSE FINES DREXEL $2.5M: The New York Stock Exchange Wednesday fined Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. $2.5 million - the NYSE's largest fine ever - for securities law and fraud violations that led to the firm's downfall. The penalty, which includes a censure of the firm, comes one month after Drexel emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. OIL PRICES DOWN: Energy futures prices fell Wednesday. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in June settled at $20.11 a barrel, down 33 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Home heating oil for delivery in May fell 1.58 cent to settle at 55.78 cents a gallon. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in May settled at 61.65 cents a gallon, down .83 cent. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3338.77, after closing down 4.48 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.42, down 0.28. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 386.35, down 0.38. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 578.23, up 3.18. DOLLAR OPENS MOSTLY DOWN: The dollar opens mixed on foreign markets Thursday. It opens at 0.5675 British pounds, down from 0.5711; 5.6150 French francs, down from 5.6325; 134.15 Japanese yen, up from 134.05; and 1.6630 German marks, down from 1.6665. (As of 3 p.m. Wednesday. Source: First American Bank of New York.) 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Money Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Banking & Economy Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM