January 26, 1984

Vatican aid for Nazi war criminals after World War II has been alleged in statements by a French Nazi- hunter and a declassified State Department report. According to the Frenchman, Serge Klarsfeld, Walter Rauff, a former SS colonel wanted for the mass gassing of Jews in death vans, told in 1962 of having been given refuge in Vatican City convents for 18 months. Chile, which has harbored the Nazi for more than 25 years, is facing mounting demands for his expulsion. (Page A1, Column 1.) Italy's concordat with the Vatican has been tentatively revised after 15 years of negotiations. Under the plan, Roman Catholicism would cease to be the state religion. (A15:1.)

A late selloff tied to rumors that President Reagan would not run for re-election sent stock prices down sharply yesterday in heavier trading. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 10.99 points, to 1,231.89. At 11:30 A.M, the average was up more than 7 points, its high for the session. But in the final hour of trading, when the Dow was up slightly, the rumors began spreading, sending equity prices tumbling.

The Economy President Reagan called for bipartisan cooperation to reduce the Federal deficit by $100 billion in the next three years. His aides said the appeal, delivered in the State of the Union message, involved ''relatively less controversial'' spending cuts and tax increases. The President also said he would ask the Treasury to propose by December a streamlining of ''the entire tax code.'' (Page A1.) Democratic Congressional leaders responded warily, saying they first wanted assurances that the White House was willing to cut military spending. (A1.) Orders for durable goods fell 1.1 percent in December from November but showed a strong 16.9 percent rise for all of 1983. Most of December's decline reflected a drop in traditionally volatile military orders. Last year's gain was the biggest since 1978. (D1.)

Victor Posner, a Miami-based financier whose holdings in more than 40 companies are estimated to be worth more than $1 billion, appeared yesterday to be well on the way to winning control of the Royal Crown Companies. Mr. Posner, who already owns 28 percent of the big bottling and fast- foods concern, was told by a four- member committee of independent Royal Crown directors that the company would accept his $40-a-share offer by Feb. 10 unless it got a better one in the interim. Mr. Posner has proposed a leveraged buyout of the 5.9 million Royal Crown shares that he does not own.

President Reagan, declaring that bipartisan cooperation in Congress had already helped arrest the nation's ''long decline,'' appealed to Republicans and Democrats tonight to join in a new attempt to reduce the projected Federal deficit by $100 billion in the next three years. In his annual State of the Union Message, Mr. Reagan mixed his renewed appeal for bipartisan cooperation on Transcript of message, page B8. taxes and spending with a nearly evangelical evocation of the progress and renewed hope he said the United States had achieved since he took office. ''There is renewed energy and optimism throughout the land,'' Mr. Reagan declared. ''America is back - standing tall, looking to the 80's with courage, confidence and hope.'' 'We Will Finish Our Job' In a sweeping summation that sounded almost like an appeal for another term in office, Mr. Reagan said: ''After all our struggles to restore America, to revive confidence in our country and hope for our future; after all our hard-won victories earned through the patience and courage of every citizen - we cannot, must not and will not turn back. We will finish our job.''