Stocks Mixed in Light Trading; Dow Off 3.56

NEW YORK â€”  The stock market was mixed in light post-holiday trading Friday, running into some selling after its recent rise to record highs.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, up about 7 points in the early going, was down 3.56 at 1,472.13 by the close. That left the average with a net gain of 7.80 points for the week.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 84.06 million shares, down from 143.65 million Wednesday and the lightest total since a 78.54-million-share day on Oct. 14.

Analysts said some traders had apparently been waiting for Friday’s session to do some profit taking, expecting to find buyers at good prices because of a traditional pattern for the day after Thanksgiving. In only three of the past 32 sessions following the annual holiday had stock prices failed to record a gain.

Airline Stocks Rise

Otherwise, brokers said the news background looked generally favorable. A declining dollar in foreign exchange markets has raised expectations of improved profits at many multinational companies and in industries that have been faced with stiff competition from imports.

They also said hopes persisted for lower interest rates. There has been much speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut its discount rate before the end of the year.

Airline stocks were broadly higher, responding to recent downward pressure on oil prices. UAL rose 1 1/2 to 48 3/4, AMR 1 1/2 to 42 3/8 and Delta 1 3/8 to 37 3/8.

Among energy issues, Chevron fell 1 1/8 to 38, Mobil 1/2 to 31 1/2, Exxon 5/8 to 53 3/8 and Amoco 5/8 to 67 1/8.

An exception to the general weakness in the group was Texaco, which led the active list and climbed 1 to 32 1/2, rebounding from a sell-off earlier in the week after a jury ruled that the company should pay Pennzoil more than $10 billion for its actions in gaining control of Getty Oil.

Elsewhere among the blue chips, International Business Machines dropped 1/2 to 139 3/4, General Electric lost 3/8 to 65 5/8 and American Telephone & Telegraph was unchanged at 23 1/2.

Campbell Soup, the subject of widespread takeover speculation, climbed 2 5/8 to 54 1/8.

Amsted Industries slumped 2 1/2 to 43. A group of top executives said that it had dropped a proposal for a leveraged buy-out of the company but added that it was looking for financing to make another bid.

In the daily tally on the Big Board, about six issues rose in price for every five that declined.