Spring Rise

On four of the five trading days last week, Wall Street was warmed by a continuance of the spring rise in stocks. The Dow-Jones industrial average climbed 6.04 points to within a point of the year's high of 498.56 before being nipped by profit-taking. As it stood, stocks wound up the week at 497.54, some 43 points higher than the low for the year. Main reason: a continuing chorus of cheery first-quarter earnings reports.

For U.S. Steel Corp., biggest of the steelmakers, Chairman Roger M. Blough announced the best three months in Big Steel's 56-year history. With output averaging 95.7% of rated capacity, sales rose to a record $1.17 billion, some $66 million better than the same quarter last year; profits climbed to another record at $115 million, nearly $11.3 million better. Said Chairman Blough, predicting another 115 million-ton year for the industry: "On the whole, this year may surprise us. We may find some dampening of enthusiasm for the next six months, but from the standpoint of the steel industry, I'm not a bit discouraged."

Some other reports:

P:Sinclair Oil Corp., Tidewater Oil Co., Standard Oil Co. (Ohio), Standard Oil Co. (Indiana) and Cities Service Co. announced their best earnings in history, with profits up anywhere from 8.5% to 29%. P:Eastman Kodak Co., with gains in nearly all major photographic lines, reported record sales and profits for 1957's first quarter. Sales were up 5.4% to $163 million, while earnings rose 4% higher than in 1956 to $17.7 million. P: Federated Department Stores, Inc. announced a new record for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2. Sales jumped $63.7 million to an alltime high of $601 million; profits increased $1,446,782 to $23.5 million, P:American Motors Corp., while still losing money, managed to cut its net loss by 30% during the first six months of its 1957 fiscal year to $5,332,471 v. $7,969,474 in the same period last year.

The flattest notes came from the TV industry, which has been battling tougher competition and slower consumer sales. Admiral Corp.'s first-quarter sales dipped 13% to $42.4 million, while profits declined 67% to $427,744. Philco Corp. and Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. managed to increase their sales slightly, but saw profits drop, Philco's by 27% to $1,107,000 for 1957's first quarter, Sylvania's by 27.8% to $3,069,944.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.