Business Notes WALL STREET

The stock market threw a record-setting party last week, but many investors failed to attend. Spurred in part by a Government report that the Consumer Price Index had risen a modest 0.2% in April, the Dow Jones industrial average reached new all-time highs on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. After a drop of 12 points on Friday, the Dow closed at 2819.91, up 18 for the week. But the gaiety was muted by the fact that broader market gauges, including Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks, remained flat throughout the week and have shown little growth all year.

Wall Street watchers placed at least part of the blame for the gap on disappointing first-quarter profits reported by many small and medium-size companies. Moreover, investors remain uncertain about prospects for the U.S. economy. In response to such concerns, they have sought security by buying and hoarding the blue-chip stocks that make up the Dow index.