Exxon Corp

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rose to records, brushing off a slump in tobacco issues, as the highest oil prices since the Persian Gulf war fueled a rally in Exxon Corp. and other producers.After crashing through 6,000 Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average began its assault on the next century mark, climbing 35.03 to a record 6,094.23 yesterday. The march to all-time highs has left some investors behind, and now they're throwing more money into stocks to avoid being caught short, analysts said.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks fell yesterday amid concern that corporate profits won't beat expectations for the rest of this year because of weak economic growth. That outlook helped steady-earning drug, food and health care companies.Federal Reserve policy-makers decided against reducing U.S. interest rates yesterday, suggesting they are content to let the economy expand at a slower pace. Expectations that profits would surpass estimates in the third and fourth quarters helped send stocks to record highs this month.

Exxon Russian venture likelyExxon Corp. is expected to sign a production-sharing agreement detailing terms to invest $15.2 billion in huge oil and natural gas fields off Russia's Sakhalin Island, an official of the company's Japanese partner said yesterday.The agreement would clear the way for Exxon to begin work on the first of three such ventures being promoted by the Russian government off Sakhalin Island directly north of Japan, which is expected to consume much of the project's output.

General Motors Corp., the company that wears the Fortune 500 crown, has been dumped unceremoniously from rival Forbes magazine's "Super 50" list of the most powerful American companies.The April 29 issues of both magazines, due on newsstands next week, are awash with lists offering a statistical portrait of American business.The numbers and rankings reflect the onset of recession last year. Half of the 500 industrial companies on the Fortune list posted losses in 1990 or sharp earnings declines from 1989.