Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-07
STOCKS SELL OFF :
IN SMALL MARKET
U. S. Steel Hits New Low,
Losses Throughout List
Are Moderate.
BY GEORGE T. HUGHES.
,ecial Dlspatch to The stnr.

NEW YORK, April 7.-Stocks sold off
again today, but still under a moderate
volume of offerings. Pressure was d.
rected against specific issues by oper-
ators for the decline and met little eff
fective resistance, so that, although the
losses were small, an unfavorable i'm
preston was made on the trading ele-
ment, as was intended.
The feature of the morning session
was the new low for u. S. Steel. The
stock opened down fractionally from
Mondays final and at the lowest since
the December break. The question was
raised as to the safety of the present 81
dividend, but the best-informed opinion
in the Street was that downward read
Iustment was improbable in the highest
degree. Steel yielded and yet there was
no increase in volume.
Utilities Decline
Utilities declined a point or two and
there was further liquidation in some
of the pool specialties, including Vana-
dunn AMI Worthington Pump. The
former made a new low on the move
ment.
Allied Chemical dipped to a new
minimum price for the year, rallying
appeared in Associated Apparel Indus
tries. The stock had closed at ID Sat
urdav, with no sales on Monday, the
report being as one time that there was
no near bid. 1t cp2ned at 10 today and
sold rapidly down to 10 for a loss of 8
points, large decline for stock selling
in its price range. The weakness seemed
to be market situation, the result Of
urgent selling, rather than anything
connected with the affairs of the COM
pany.
Copyer c4coIye +,,y,,nd rlo,r-,,v,ord nc q
result of the announcement that cop
per metal had been sold at 9l2 cents
by customs smelter. Copper has sold
at that level several times in the last
seven or eight months and except for
these occasions the quotation is the low
est since 1895. Anaconda and the
other members of the group were freely
offered
Railroad stocks. while not active,
ranged lower Great Northern preferred,
Southern Railway. Delaware & Hudson,
Rock Island and Norfolk & Western all
lost ground. Rail stocks were influenced
by the weakness in railroad bonds of
the second grade.
Among the dividend meetings TO
which the Street had been looking for
ward was that of Columbian Carbon
The directors declared the regular quar-
terly disbursement of S125 a share, but
omitted the extra Of IS cents. The stock
rallied on the news. There was also a
brief recovery in the oil shares, pre-
sumably based on expectations Of favor
able results from the meeting in Wash
ington of the Oil States Advisory Con-
mittee with the Federal Oil Conserva-
ton Board.
Early Market Lower.
The market resumed a downward
TO- I
been partially Cancelled by short COW
ering
United States Steel which opened at
new low for the year at 1865 adj
vanced to 1877 and then sold down again
to fresh low at 1862 This was illus
trative of the trend of most Of the
active market leaders. Call money re-
newed at 2 per cent, compared with
Mondays renewal rate Of IL per cent
During the first half hour trading
amounted to 100000 shares, the same
as on Monday
Active industrials TO show weakness
were Allied Chemical. General Theaters
Equipment. General Electric, Montgom-
cry Ward and Woolworth
Fox Film, scheduled to announce a
large refunding plan. was particularly
weak, dropping nearly points. Worth
ington Pump dropped points. Ana
conda and Nevada Consolidated were
fractionally lower
Columbian Carbon. which announced
its regular dividend but omitted the
extra dividend of IS cents. was frac-
tionally higher. Associated Apparel
Industries opened at 10, off S, and then
dropped under II, to a new low. Rails
were off slightly all around In the
motors, Auburn opened lower but later
recovered the loss. General Motors held
at a fractional loss. Utilities held well.
American Telephone dropped nearly 2
points and oils were dull