Stocks narrowly mixed on anthrax worries

Renewed anxiety about the possibility of more terror attacks pressured Wall Street today, resulting in a mixed finish for the market despite some better-than-expected results from Boeing.

Stocks fluctuated on fears that the latest spate of anthrax cases will keep Americans at home and further hurt consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the economy.

Analysts said earnings reports, even the relatively strong ones, were providing little reassurance since companies have yet to say business is improvement.

‘‘There’s a fear this (anthrax scare) will really impede the consumer as far any spending going on,’’ said Charles Pradilla, chief investment strategist at SG Cowen. ‘‘While earnings are important ... they really pale in comparison to events like this.

‘‘Especially when earnings still aren’t anything to get excited about.’’

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 69.75, or 0.7%, at 9,163.22, according to preliminary calculations.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 8.48 to 1,068.61, but the Nasdaq composite index gained 6.37 to 1,652.71.

Thursday’s selling recalled Wednesday’s session, when the market was so concerned about the anthrax news it disregarded some relatively positive earnings from IBM and Intel.

Boeing fell 84 cents to 32.86 dollars on third-quarter earnings a penny ahead of expectations that came with a warning that operations are likely to be weak in coming quarters.

The Dow was also dragged lower by AT-and-T, which fell 73 cents to 17.90 dollars, and ExxonMobil, which lost 1.08 dlrs to 40.40 dlrs.

Two bellwethers scheduled to report earnings after the market closed fared somewhat better. Microsoft gained 77 cents to 56.80 dlrs in the regular session, while Sun Microsystems closed up 8 cents at 8.88 dlrs.

The market remained uncertain a day after new anthrax exposures forced a temporary shuttering of Congress and after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned of a dip in productivity because of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Third-quarter earnings were expected to be disappointing, and so far, most of the results have been in line with those predictions. Wall Street has taken the news well, but in the absence of any indications from companies that business is stabilising or turning around, there has been little impetus for big moves.

‘‘The market is trying to get its equilibrium back,’’ said John Forelli, portfolio manager for the John Hancock Core Value Fund. ‘‘But there’s no clear relief, political or earnings, that’s going to propel this market forward.’’

Analysts also attributed some of the recent decline to an expected pullback from the market’s rebound from the massive selloff that followed the attacks. By last week, all three major indexes had returned to levels not seen since before the assaults.

Although stocks have retreated somewhat since then, the Dow is still 11% above the lows for 2001 set last month. The Nasdaq is up 16% and the S-and-P 500, more than 10%.

Also Thursday, there was more economic data showing fallout from the September 11 terror attacks. For the work week ending October 13, new jobless claims increased by a seasonally adjusted 6,000 to 490,000, the Labour Department said.

Declining issues led advancers 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 1.25 billion shares, compared with 1.44 billion Wednesday.

The Russell 2000 index fell 3.43 to 421.06.