FINANCIAL MARKETS : STOCKS : Dow Falls 1.81 After Bouncing in Wide Range

Stock prices closed lower Friday after a volatile session in which blue chips swung wildly between gains and losses, buffeted by futures-linked buying and selling.

The Dow Jones index of 30 industrials dropped 1.81 to 2,559.23, stretching its loss for the week to 118.67 points.

Declining issues outnumbered advances by about 5 to 3 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks, with 557 up, 951 down and 464 unchanged.

Big Board volume totaled 198.19 million shares, up from Thursday’s 172.27 million.

The Commerce Department reported that the gross national product grew at a 0.5% annual rate, after adjustment for inflation, in the fourth quarter of last year.

The figure was a bit stronger than some analysts had projected. But observers noted that it was magnified to a great extent by increases in inventories, which is usually interpreted as evidence of weakness in business activity.

A separate report showed a 2.5% rise in new factory orders for durable goods in December.

The Dow traded in a wide 62-point range during the session, up as much as 24 points and down as many as 38.

In Tokyo, stocks moved slightly lower in modest trading as investors moved to the sidelines early ahead of the weekend. The key 225-share Nikkei was down 95.04 points to 36,874.07.

Stock prices finished higher in London as the release of better-than-expected British trade figures sparked some buying interest. The Financial Times 100-share index rose 24.6 points, or 1.1%, to close the week at 2,314.5.