Dow up 60;
off 3.5% for week

NEW YORK -- Stocks gained ground today as stabilizing overseas markets and encouraging U.S. inflation news helped calm investors' nerves after a turbulent week on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 60.41 points, to close at 7,442.08 well below its 114-point climb in the first hour of trading but ahead of its brief 29-point midmorning decline. For the week, the Dow was down 273 points, or 3.5 percent.

Broad-market indexes also rallied at the opening bell, but weakened somewhat as the day progressed.

Advancers beat decliners by a 7-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 2,089 up, 897 down and 450 unchanged. NYSE volume was 629.02 million shares vs. 707.84 million yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 10.94 to close at 914.62, the NYSE composite index climbed 5.31 to 481.14, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 23.19 to 1,593.60. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 4.60 to 433.26, and the small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.91 to 675.75.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was down 7/32 point, or $2.19 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 6.15 percent from 6.13 percent late yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

"There's still a lot of jitters out there, which is causing volatility," said Brian Belski, technical analyst at Dain Bosworth in Minneapolis. "You don't have the huge moves we've seen this week and then just resume trading like nothing happened."

Helping to calm global markets was a rise in major Asian indexes and European markets ending the day little changed.

That follows a week of turmoil in international markets, caused by concerns over the financial outlook of Asia.

Troubles abroad sent the Dow plunging 554 points Monday, its worst point drop ever. Stocks then rebounded Tuesday, with a 337-point gain, its biggest one-day rise in history. On Wednesday, it rose a mere 8.35 points and fell 125 points yesterday.

Also boosting stocks today was news of an International Monetary Fund bailout package for Indonesia, with the United States joining the rescue effort with a commitment of its own.

In addition, a government estimate that the U.S. economy managed sound 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter without stirring up inflation helped lift stocks at the open. An inflation measure linked to the gross domestic product had its smallest rise since 1964.