Dow up 17.69

NEW YORK -- Stocks edged toward a record high today, then fell back to a small gain in closing minutes as investors squared their positions ahead of the quarter's end.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.69 points to close at 8,799.81. Earlier in the day the market had risen as much as 116.84 to 8,988.96 -- nearly shattering its March 20 record of 8,906.43. The Dow is up 11.27 percent through the first quarter.

The day's slight gain shook off four days of losses for the blue-

chip index, which had slipped more than 122 points between Wednesday and yesterday's close of 8,782.12.

Advancers led decliners by a 11-to-6 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,952 advancers, 1,066 decliners and 500 unchanged. Volume was at 656 million shares, compared with 496.70 million yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 list gained 8.21 to close at 1,101.76. The NYSE composite index gained 3.89 at 572.78. The Nasdaq composite index rose to a record close, up 16.98 at 1,835.68

The American Stock Exchange composite index climbed 5.18 to 741.63 and the Russell 2000 index gained 4.44 to end at 480.68.

For the quarter, the S&P 500 is up 13.5 percent; the NYSE composite is 12 percent higher; the Nasdaq composite is up 16.9 percent; the Amex composite is 8.3 percent higher; and the Russell 2000 is up 12.95 percent.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond today was up 5/8 point, or $6.25 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield dropped to 5.93 percent from 5.97 percent yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.