FINANCIAL MARKETS : Dow Falls 17.01; Loss for Week Totals 92.42

NEW YORK —  The stock market capped off a weeklong run of losses with another broad decline Friday amid worries over the economy and weakness in corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials fell 17.01 to 2,596.72, extending its loss for the week to 92.42 points.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by more than 5 to 2 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks

Big Board volume was 170.33 million shares, against 175.24 million in the previous session.

Analysts said a series of unpleasant surprises in companies’ earnings reports for the third quarter raised concerns that have continued to weigh down the market.

When stocks have been under pressure lately, brokers added, they haven’t attracted much support from “bargain hunting” investors.

The market’s extreme volatility of late is presumed to have frightened off a good many participants who might otherwise be buying stocks at marked-down prices.

In addition, many Federal Reserve-watchers remain uncertain over whether and when the Fed might take any further steps to relax its credit policy.

Losers among the blue chips included Procter & Gamble, down 1 3/8 at 125 5/8; American Telephone & Telegraph, down 1/2 at 43 1/8; Du Pont, down 1 5/8 at 114 7/8; General Electric, down 3/4 at 53 5/8, and International Business Machines, down 7/8 at 99 7/8.

Auto issues were weak for the second straight session after the Big Three domestic manufacturers all reported declines in third-quarter operating earnings. Chrysler lost 1/2 to 21 3/4; General Motors 3/8 to 44, and Ford Motor 3/8 to 47 1/8.

Precious-metals issues, by contrast, bolstered by rising gold prices in world markets and increased talk about the possibility of a recession.

ASA Ltd. climbed 3 5/8 to 49 5/8; Homestake Mining 1 1/8 to 16 7/8; Amax Gold 3/4 to 15; Battle Mountain Gold 3/4 to 16 3/4, and American Barrick Resources 1 3/8 to 27 3/4.

Unisys dropped 3/4 to 16 1/4. The company reported a $648.20 million loss for the third quarter, including the effects of restructuring costs and other charges.

Crossland Savings fell 1 7/8 to 5 1/4. The company reported a $175.54 million quarterly loss and said it sought help from investment bankers for a capital restructuring.

Shares closed lower in Tokyo in very heavy turnover after profit taking in large-capital domestic shares. The 225-share Nikkei index sank 151.20 points to 35,527.29, cutting Thursday’s 236.09-point gain.

Share prices also closed sharply lower in active trading in London, depressed by Chancellor Nigel Lawson’s resignation and a rapid selloff on Wall Street. The Financial Times 100-share index shed 47.3 points, or 2.2%, to close at 2,082.1.

Credit

Bond prices sagged under the weight of a heavy supply of recently auctioned issues and a falling dollar.

The Treasury’s benchmark 30-year bond fell 19/32 point, or $5.94 per $1,000 in face value. Its yield, which rises when prices fall, climbed to 7.93% from 7.88% late Thursday.

Bond prices slumped early in the session as the dollar fell in foreign-exchange trading. The decline deepened in the afternoon, attributed by analysts to recent borrowing by the Treasury and the agency set up to help salvage insolvent thrifts.

David Hale, chief economist for Kemper Financial Services in Chicago, said securities dealers who bought the $4.5 billion in 30-year bonds auctioned this week by the thrift bailout agency Resolution Funding Corp. have been unable to find retail buyers for the securities.

“A lot of that Resolution finance paper is still on dealer’s desks,” he said.

Hale said the bond market is also disappointed that the Federal Reserve has not yet given signs that it is ready to begin to relax credit conditions.

“The market wants a clearer vision of the economy and where the Fed is going and neither are probably forthcoming in the near term,” he said.

Analysts said a government report showing weak gains in consumer spending and personal income was in line with expectations and had little effect on the market.

In the secondary market for Treasury securities, prices of short-term government issues dropped 3-16 point, intermediate maturities were down by between 7-32 point and 3/8 point and long-term issues fell as much as 5/8 point, according to Telerate Inc., a financial information service.

The movement of a point is equivalent to a change of $10 in the price of a bond with a $1,000 face value.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, was quoted late in the day at 8.688%, down from 8.75% late Thursday.

Currency

The dollar weakened substantially against all major currencies except the British pound, undermined by another poor session in the U.S. stock market and expectations of lower interest rates.

Sterling stayed stuck in the slump it lapsed into when the British government’s top finance official abruptly quit on Thursday.

The dollar ended near its lowest levels of the day. Currency dealers said selling motivated by internal market factors accentuated the weakness.

But much of the impetus to unload dollars came from the stock market’s retreat.

The British pound, jarred by the resignation of Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson on Thursday, finished the London trading day at $1.5750, substantially lower than $1.6130 the day before.

But sterling managed to rebound slightly from its worst levels with a little help from the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve. Both central banks reportedly bought pounds and sold dollars to stall the pound’s slide. The London closing price was up from a session low of $1.5620.

The pound also dropped to 2.8820 West German marks, compared to 2.9650 marks late Thursday.

Later, in New York, sterling fetched $1.5795, up slightly from $1.5780 on Thursday.

In Tokyo, the dollar rose 0.85 Japanese yen to a closing 142.75 yen. But in London, it fell back to a late rate of 141.90 yen. The dollar ended New York trading at 141.75 yen, down from 142.125 late Thursday.

Commodities

Gold futures prices surged to their highest levels in 3 1/2 months on New York’s Commodity Exchange as investors unnerved by the stock market’s gyrations opted for the perceived safety of precious metals.

“The market is getting back into the viewpoint that gold is a store of value, that it retains purchasing power,” said Bette Raptopoulos, a metals analyst with Prudential-Bache Securities Inc.

Silver and platinum futures also rose sharply.

On other futures markets, copper advanced, oil prices rose, livestock and meat were mostly lower and grains and soybeans were mixed.

Gold futures settled $5.80 to $7 higher, with the contract for spot delivery at $378.30 an ounce, the highest spot price on the Commodity Exchange since July 12. The most active gold contract, for December delivery, settled at $381.20, braking the $380 barrier for the first time since Aug. 3.