Far beyond the point at which the mud became treacherous and from which Small Gains had never risen again, she stood poised on the handlebars of a sunken bicycle.

Gains in Financial Services After precious metals, financial-services stocks rose the most, up an average of 3.51 percent.

Gains for the Big Three The Big Three's total sales of cars and light trucks rose 10.4 percent in 1993, to 10,369,987.

Slight Gain for Bills Short-term Treasury bill rates rose modestly.

Strong Quarterly Gain at 3Com Quarterly earnings at 3Com, a leading maker of computer networking equipment, rose 54 percent.

Japan's Gains in Trade Japan's trade surplus with the United States rose 14 percent in 1992 and its global surplus hit a record.

Gains in Refined Products The prices of refined products traded on the exchange also rose sharply yesterday.

Gains for Gold Gold prices rose strongly, a move that was partly followed by most gold stocks.

Gains for Machine Tools, Too Machine tools and other capital equipment exports also rose steeply.

Gains for Autos Auto sales rose 1.9 percent in July, following a 4.5 percent June increase, but analysts said these gains only partially offset earlier sluggishness.