Dow Increase Pushes Week to Record Gain

Wall Street stocks closed mixed Friday after blue chips gained in a late surge of buying, ending one of the most volatile weeks in the market’s history on a calm note.

The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials rose 5.94 to 2,689.14, stretching its gain for the week to a record 119.88 points. The previous largest weekly point gain for the average was 114.86, in the week ended June 3, 1988.

In five days’ time, the Dow has recovered more than half its Friday the 13th loss of 190.58 points.

Declines outnumbered advances by about 6 to 5 in the daily tally of New York Stock Exchange-listed issues, with 662 up, 829 down and 478 unchanged.

Many longtime market watchers breathed easier after the session.

“I think people are happy to have this week over,” said one trader, who said he and others had worked through the weekend following the market’s Friday the 13th tumble.

Brokers also noted that traders were proceeding cautiously as they waited for the passing of another monthly “witching hour” involving the last trading of expiring stock options and stock index futures contracts.

As it turned out, the occasion seemed to work in the market’s favor by producing some buying of blue chips near the close.

In addition, some observers said the market was still feeling the positive effects of the government report Thursday that the consumer price index rose just 0.2% in September.

Analysts said optimism about the takeover outlook, after slowly reviving in recent days, suffered a new setback when British Airways said it wouldn’t take part in any effort to revive a buyout deal for UAL Corp.

UAL shares, which traded as high as 294 before buyout plans for the company ran into trouble, tumbled 21 5/8 to 168 1/2.

However, in contrast to a week earlier when the deal first went sour, the action in UAL was no longer dragging the rest of the market down with it.

Other airlines that fell included AMR Corp., off 2 1/2 to 70 7/8, Delta Air Lines,, down 1 to 69, and Southwest Airlines, off 3/8 to 25.

USAir Group was the sole gainer in the group, rising 1 3/4 to 43 1/4 after a published report said investor Marvin Davis had acquired a small block of stock. Davis declined comment.

Among actively traded blue chips, American Telephone & Telegraph rose 1/4 to 43 5/8; Exxon gained 3/8 to 46 1/8; Coca-Cola added 3/8 to 70 3/4, and International Business Machines was up 1/8 at 104 1/4.

Hercules Inc., which reported a third-quarter earnings gain that evidently fell short of investors’ hopes, fell 3 1/4 to 44 3/8.

Big Board volume totaled 164.83 million shares, down from 198.12 million in the previous session.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the key Nikkei average of 225-shares, which jumped 266.66 points Thursday, added 112.16 points to end the week at 35,486.38.

In London, share prices closed moderately lower after a thinly traded session influenced largely by declines on Wall Street and weakness in the British pound.

The Financial Times 100-share index ended 10.2 points lower at 2,179.1.

Credit

In the credit markets, government bond prices finished lower in sluggish trading, weighed down by concerns about a heavy supply of new issues.

The 30-year Treasury bond lost 1/4 point, or $2.50 for each $1,000 in face amount, after being up as much as $3.75 earlier in the day. Its yield rose to 7.98% from 7.96% late Thursday.

Analysts said the market’s early rise was an extension of Thursday’s rally, which saw 30-year bond prices rise by about $8 for every $1,000 in face value due to a report of a smaller-than-expected rise in consumer prices last month.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, was quoted at 8.688%, the same as Thursday’s late rate.

Currency

The dollar ended higher in quiet trading following a mixed performance overseas.

Currency traders attributed the rise largely to internal market influences in the absence of any new market-moving news. They said the market was awaiting the release of the September durable goods report on Tuesday and the preliminary report on the third-quarter gross national product on Thursday.

However, Earl I. Johnson, a trader with Harris Trust & Co. in Chicago, said prospects for increased demand for dollars by the Japanese were giving some support to the currency.

In Tokyo, where trading ends before Europe’s business day begins, the dollar closed at 141.35 yen, down 0.20 yen from Thursday’s close. It was quoted at 142.30 yen in London, and at 142.425 yen in New York, up from 142.00.

The dollar was higher against the British pound. Sterling sold for $1.5885 in London, down from $1.5940 late Thursday. In New York, each pound bought $1.5885, down from $1.5975.

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