FINANCIAL MARKETS : Dow Ends 4-Day Losing Streak as Yields Plunge

Blue-chip stocks ended a roller-coaster day sharply higher as a drop in long-term interest rates helped the Dow Jones industrial average snap a four-day losing streak. But technology stocks took a beating as investors feared that that industry may be facing tough times.

The Dow industrials ended up 50.94 points at 5,536.56, rebounding from a rout that erased 146 points from the index from Monday through Thursday. For the week, the index was off 93.93 points.

The Dow rose at the open, dropped to minus 49 points, then moved as much as 30 points higher before paring and then surpassing those gains. Traders said computerized trading was responsible for some of the Dow’s sharp moves.

In the bond market, the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond gained nearly 1 1/4 points and its yield plunged to 6.37% from Thursday’s close of 6.47%.

“We had a good bond market, and that was good news for stocks,” said Hugh Johnson, chief investment strategist at First Albany Corp. He said new economic data stirred up expectations that the Federal Reserve Board will cut interest rates at the March 26 meeting of its policymaking Federal Open Market Committee.

Hopes for another rate cut were fueled by the National Assn. of Purchasing Management’s report that the nation’s manufacturing sector slowed for a seventh consecutive month in February, although the rate of decline was down slightly from January.

The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index sank 13.97 points to 1,086.08 on concerns about that sector’s growth prospects after several companies raised warning flags about their earnings.

Compaq was the most heavily traded NYSE issue, tumbling 9 to 41 5/8. The company said it will cut PC prices to meet its sales plan, and warned that the move will put pressure on its profit margins. International Business Machines lost 4 1/2 to 118 1/8 in sympathy with the Compaq news.

Intuit slumped 16 1/4 to 50 1/2 after it forecast only modest revenue growth for its key Quicken personal finance software product for fiscal 1996.

LSI Logic, which sparked a sell-off in tech shares at midweek when it warned that its quarterly earnings would fall short of Street expectations, lost 2 to 25 5/8.

Among other technology stocks, Intel slid 2 3/4 to 46 1/16, Cisco Systems lost 2 to 45 1/2, Sun Microsystems fell 3 1/2 to 49, Dell Computer retreated 4 3/8 to 30 and Microsoft dropped 3 3/16 to 95 1/2.

In the broader market, advancing issues led decliners 1,415 to 889 on heavy volume of 471 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Standard & Poor’s composite index of 500 stocks rose 3.94 points to 644.37.

Among market highlights:

* Consumer stocks, which usually perform well during economic downturns, led the Dow higher. Sears rose 2 7/8 to 48 1/4. Procter & Gamble gained 2 5/8 to 84 5/8 after the household-products maker reported an 82% gain in earnings at its India operations for the first half of the fiscal year.

* Bank stocks rose as interest rates fell. J.P. Morgan rose 1 3/4 to 83 5/8; Citicorp was up 1 5/8 at 79 5/8.

* UAL, parent of United Air Lines, climbed 5 1/2 to 184 1/8 after announcing plans for a four-for-one stock split.

In Mexico City, stocks rose for the first time this week as investors took advantage of a rising peso and falling U.S. bond yields to buy shares. The Bolsa index rose 59.86 points, or 2.1%, to 2892.40, its largest single-session increase since rising 2.5% on Feb. 22.

Tokyo stocks ended a volatile day modestly higher after the Bank of Japan’s quarterly “Tankan” survey of corporate sentiment--which showed a less strong economy than many investors had expected--eased worries about an imminent rise in market interest rates. The 225-share Nikkei average ended up 43.26 points, or 0.21%, at 20,168.63.