The market moved up, in part because of reports of a big Middle Eastern buyer of five- year notes, and then gave up much of the gain as traders prepared for the release of the unemployment report today.

Large or increasing ranges suggest traders prepared to continue to bid up or sell down a stock through the course of the day.

As traders prepared for the Memorial Day weekend, stock prices barely changed, according to the main indexes.

Volume was about as light as it has been for any session since Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, as traders prepared to take off for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Prices of Treasury securities rose yesterday in lackluster trading as traders prepared for today's meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers.

By 3 P.M., the loss had widened to 44 points, or 1.8 percent, and traders prepared for further shocks.

Bond prices fell modestly as traders prepared for a heavy supply of new Treasury offerings.

Activity in the secondary market for corporate and tax-exempt municipal bond markets was very light yesterday, as traders prepared for the long Memorial Day weekend.

The dollar rose against some foreign currencies and fell against others in light trading yesterday as major traders prepared to close their books at the end of the year.

The dollar staged a strong advance as traders prepared for the possibility that if Gov. Bill Clinton was elected President, he would increase Government spending to stimulate the economy, which could result in higher interest rates.