DATE: Wednesday, April 2, 1997              TAG: 9704020479

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   40 lines

BROKERS SAY THERE'S SENSE OF CAUTION, BUT NOT PANIC

After watching a two-day plunge in stock prices, some Hampton Roads investors have begun hunting for bargains, stockbrokers in the region said Tuesday.

However, other investors apparently have decided to sit out the market's recent gyrations.

``I do see more caution, but people are a lot more accepting of the volatility,'' said Carlos Williams, manager of the Charles Schwab & Co. office in Norfolk. ``There's no sense of panic.''

Meanwhile, stocks in several retailers and banks in the region recovered modestly from Monday's sharp falloff. Dollar Tree Stores, the Norfolk-based retail chain, jumped 3 1/4 to end the day at 40 1/4.

Circuit City Stores Inc., the electronics and appliance retailer based in Richmond, climbed 3/8 to 33 3/4. NationsBank Corp. edged up 3/4 to 56 1/4. However, utility holding company Dominion Resources Inc. retreated 1/2 to 35 7/8.

Brokers attributed the appetite of local investors partly to lessons learned from the market's October 1987 collapse. After a frightening plunge brought on by rising interest rates, stock prices quickly rebounded.

Peter Griffin, head of a financial-planning group at the Norfolk office of brokerage firm Wheat First Butcher Singer, said some clients with cash on hand called Tuesday to ask, ``When's the time to get back in?''

At the Virginia Beach office of Scott & Stringfellow Inc., broker Larry Waters said he advised one client nearing retirement to shift part of his portfolio from stocks into a bond fund.

Still, ``I had more buyers than sellers'' Tuesday, Waters said.

The steep drop in prices has prompted some investors to delay putting contributions for individual retirement accounts into stock mutual funds.

``We do see a lot more going into money-market funds and investors waiting to see what happens,'' said Williams.

``We ask them, `What are your long-term plans for the money?' and the response is that it's still earmarked for equity funds,'' he said.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu