Market Closes Mixed Again; Dow Gains 3.47

The stock market closed out a trendless week with another mixed showing Friday.

However, in the bond markets, prices fell by as much as a full point, or $10 for every $1,000 in face value, as the market looked ahead to next week’s announcement of the government’s borrowing plans for early August.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 3.47 to 1,357.08, climbing to just 2.46 points below the record high that it reached a week earlier. But other, broader market measures showed less strength.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange slowed to 106.95 million shares from 123.29 million Thursday.

Analysts said investors’ enthusiasm was restrained by doubts about the outlook for interest rates.

After dropping sharply in recent months, rates lately have stopped falling. They did not respond even to the Federal Reserve’s report late Thursday of a larger than expected $4.8-billion decline in the basic measure of the money supply.

Without the benefit of lower interest rates, many analysts say, the stock market is likely to need evidence of improving economic growth and corporate profits if it is going to resume the rally that has carried it to new highs.

Energy issues were mostly higher, extending their advance since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed on a modest reduction in prices of some grades of crude oil. Analysts said the OPEC meeting didn’t appear to accomplish a great deal, but it nevertheless staved off any steep decline in oil prices.