Dow Off Slightly, Ending Rough Week

Wall Street ended a week of declines Friday, as positive inflation news failed to inoculate stocks against the Asian flu.

The Dow Jones industrial average sagged 10.69 points to 7,838.30 in indecisive trading following a 55-point upward swing and a 64-point drop. The index of blue-chip stocks remains more than 310 points below last Friday’s close, with technology shares taking the most dramatic tumbles.

Many investors fled stocks that have taken a battering over the week in favor of bonds, driving the yield on the 30-year bond to its lowest level since October 1993.

Reports continued to emerge of companies facing trouble selling in Asia, leading to an unabated selloff of technology issues.

“There’s a real uncertainty over who’s going to get hit next in the Asian fiasco,” said Jennifer L. Moran, an economist at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities.

Many analysts expect a number of companies that operate in sluggish Asian economies to issue forecasts that warn that fourthquarter sales won’t meet earlier expectations.