Dow up 4.38

NEW YORK -- Stocks were mixed today, with the Dow Jones industrial average barely halting a four-session, 400-point losing streak dominated by profit warnings from major companies.

The Dow, which slid 195 points yesterday, closed 4.38 points higher at 8,937.36 after swinging from an early 65-point gain to a 70-point loss that put the blue-chip measure below 8,900 for the first time in a month. The Dow lost 400.61 points for the week, slashing this year's gain from 18 percent to 13 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.05 to 1,140.80, but the Nasdaq composite index dropped 4.23 to 1,930.99, falling for a fourth straight day after a nine-session streak of record highs.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 5-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,127 up, 1,833 down and 559 unchanged.

NYSE volume totaled 682.65 million shares vs. 731.42 million yesterday.

The NYSE composite index fell 0.36 to 576.32, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 1.06 to 718.66.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.75 to 435.58.

Stocks opened higher amid some bargain-hunting and news that Japan's ruling party had nominated Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi to succeed Ryutaro Hashimoto as prime minister of that recession-

plagued nation.

The Dow, which closed at a record 9,337.97 just a week ago today, has been hammered this week amid signs of earnings trouble at four of the 30 companies that comprise the index: Merck & Co. Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., DuPont and Boeing Co.

Tokyo's Nikkei stock average rose 1.1 percent today.