Stocks see-sawed through another volatile session Thursday to a mostly lower close, ending a wild week that left the Dow Jones industrial average with its largest point loss in more than four years.

Trading was brisk as market participants adjusted holdings on the closing day of the first quarter and took positions ahead of the long weekend. The stock market was closed for Good Friday.The Dow industrials managed to eke out a gain for the day as renewed buying surfaced in the late going. Buyers favored stocks of big name companies that had been battered during the market's recent downturn, which helped the Dow industrials edge up 9.21 to 3,635.96.

But the blue-chip gauge lost 138.77 points since last Friday, the worst weekly showing since a 216.26-point descent during the week that ended Oct. 13, 1989.

Several broader market indicators also ended with deficits and losers outnumbered gainers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Volume on the Big Board's floor swelled to 398.59 million shares as of 4 p.m. EST. On Wednesday, a heavy total of 390.06 million shares changed hands.

Waves of computer-guided selling periodically washed over the market, at one time dragging down the Dow industrials by more than 67 points.

As has happened on several occasions lately, the NYSE was forced to invoke its restriction on a form of computerized trading. The regulation, adopted after the market's crash in October of 1987, is aimed at coping with hectic market conditions.

"People were breathing a sigh of relief at the end of the day," said Don Hays, investment strategist at Wheat First-Butcher & Singer. "But the downturn may not necessarily be over. The market is trying to hit bottom but there's no real evidence that that's the case yet."

Stocks opened on a steadier note after the previous session's setback that plunged the market to levels not seen since last autumn seemed to lure buyers back.

But the selective buying was replaced by selling within the first half hour of trading when the bond market reacted negatively to a report from the Chicago Purchasing Management Association that showed improved conditions in the region.

The bond market later overcame its disappointment with the purchasing managers' survey and finished the day largely where it started. The key 30-year Treasury bond rose 7-32 point, lowering its yield to 7.08 percent from 7.10 percent late Wednesday.

Other economic news, including the government's revised reading on the gross domestic product, had a neutral impact on the financial markets.

Despite the minor gain in the Dow industrials, market analysts said the hectic action represented a continuation of the selloff that started when the Federal Reserve began nudging up interest rates in early February.

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The financial markets were particularly edgy ahead of the government's monthly employment report due Friday. There have been concerns that further evidence of robust economic growth - such as a big improvement in employment - could steer the Fed toward an even tighter credit course.

The Big Board's list of active stocks was studded with big-name companies, many of which turned up in afternoon action. Chrysler headed the list and rose 11/4 to 517/8 while International Business Machines jumped 1 to 541/2.

Another stock that managed to buck the downtrend was Software Toolworks which surged 43/8 to 143/8 in Nasdaq-leading volume. Britain's publishing and entertainment conglomerate Pearson said it has agreed to buy Software Toolworks for $14.75 a share, or about $462 million.

Among widely followed stock performance indicators, the NYSE composite index fell 0.28 to 247.06, leaving it 9.23 lower in the week while the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index crept 0.22 higher to 445.77 but still ended down 14.81 for the week.

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