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Dow Gains 25; Oil Falls Below $14 a Barrel

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

* Brisk buying tied to surging overseas markets and quarterly expirations of options and futures powered a U.S. stock rally Friday.

* Oil tumbled below $14 a barrel for the first time in five years on fears of a bigger supply glut ahead.

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The Dow industrials paced a broad rally on Wall Street, rising 25.43 points to 3,751.57, for a full-week gain of 10.90 points.

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All other key market indexes also advanced. The Nasdaq composite of mostly smaller stocks rose 3.70 points to 759.23, continuing to rebound from its recent slump.

Analysts said the breadth of the market’s advance indicated that the rally wasn’t solely attributable to the quarterly expiration of key stock index futures and options.

The expirations caused volume on the Big Board to swell to 363.8 million shares. Winning stocks topped losers 2 to 1.

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Wall Street also benefited from big gains in some Asian and European markets, continuing the dramatic rally that has characterized most overseas markets in 1993.

London’s FTSE-100 index shot up 25.9 points to a record 3,337.1, while Paris’ CAC-40 index leaped 36.18 points to 2,196.44.

Mexico City’s Bolsa index also ended at a record, gaining 31.72 points to 2,454.57.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index hit a record, up 229.20 points to 10,568.86. Stocks also hit new highs in Manila. And in Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index posted its third straight gain, up 262.63 points to 18,051.63.

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Among U.S. market highlights:

* It was another good day for industrial issues, which have led the recent rally on optimism about the economy’s strength in 1994. AlliedSignal jumped 2 to 77 1/4, GE surged 1 5/8 to 105 1/8, International Paper advanced 1 5/8 to 67 7/8, Rockwell rose 1 1/4 to 38 1/2, and Tenneco leaped 1 5/8 to 50 7/8.

* Tech stocks were mixed, but IBM hit a 1993 high, up 2 1/4 to 59 3/4.

* Some media stocks rose. Knight-Ridder added 1 1/8 to 59 5/8, Disney jumped 7/8 to 43 3/8, and Times Mirror, parent of the Los Angeles Times, gained 1 1/4 to 35.

* Among foreign issues trading in U.S. markets, China Tire surged 2 to 26, the Mexico Equity & Income fund leaped 1 1/2 to 23 7/8, and Telmex gained 1 1/8 to 62 3/4.

In other markets Friday:

* Oil plunged anew, with futures for January diving 32 cents to $13.91 a barrel on the New York Merc--lowest since late 1988.

Traders cited concerns that German conglomerate Metallgesellschaft will dump a hoard of oil futures on the market soon, following a botched trading episode in oil.

* Bond yields edged lower as the market continued to drift. The 30-year T-bond yield eased to 6.28% from 6.29% Thursday.

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* Gold futures for current delivery gained $1.40 to $387.40 an ounce. Silver fell 8 cents to $5.01.

Market Roundup, D4

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