THE Dow Jones industrial average closed higher yesterday after a tumultuous week that produced the fourth biggest weekly loss ever as speculation was rife that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates again to slow the economy's growth.

The Dow ended 48.72 points higher at 6,526.07, but for the week, it dropped 214.52 points - the fourth largest after October 13th, 1989's fall of 216.26.

In the broader market, advancing issues led declines by a small margin on active volume of 540 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, the dollar ended sharply higher against the yen and the deutschmark, cheered by reassuring comments from the US Treasury Secretary Mr Robert Rubin and a US employment report that suggested the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates again soon.