May 7, 1984

THOMAS C. HAYES LOS ANGELES, May 6 - He is battling in court with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is on the defensive with the New York Stock Exchange and is indirectly under review at the Labor Department. Nonetheless, Philip M. Hawley, the urbane chairman and chief executive of Carter Hawley Hale Stores, is certain that he has not acted recklessly in his effort to elude the unwelcome takeover moves of The Limited Inc., and its chairman, Leslie H. Wexner. ''It's all part of this game,'' a relaxed Mr. Hawley said in an interview. He attributed the unusually intense scrutiny of his defensive measures by the regulatory agencies to repeated proddings from The Limited, and added that none of the confrontations had come as a surprise.

Salvadorans stood in line for hours today to vote for the country's first president to be elected without military interference in more than 50 years. The confusion about voting procedures that plagued the preliminary round of elections March 25 was absent in the runoff today, and officials said guerrilla harassment was at a minimum. The choice was between Jose Napoleon Duarte, candidate of the moderate Christian Democratic Party, and Roberto d'Aubuisson, of the far- right Nationalist Republican Alliance, known as Arena. Duarte Seen as the Favorite Mr. Duarte was viewed as the favorite by United States officials and Salvadoran politicians. A survey of voters as they left the polls indicated that Mr. Duarte would win by a comfortable margin, but even preliminary returns were not expected until Monday. The survey was conducted by the Spanish International Network, a Spanish-language television network in the United States.

The Reagan Administration is divided over a bill that would broaden the scope of Federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, race, national origin, age and handicap. The bill would reverse a precedent set by the Supreme Court in February when it decided an educational case. The Court ruled that only the specific ''program or activity'' receiving Federal money was subject to a Federal law prohibiting sex discrimination. The bill under consideration would forbid discrimination by any ''recipient'' of Federal money.

Salvadorans turned out to vote for President in the first such election the military has not interfered with in more than 50 years. The voting took place in circumstances less confused than they were in the preliminary round March 25. Guerrilla harassment was negligible, officials said. (Page A1, Column 1.) Panama's first Presidential election in 16 years brought out many voters in orderly proceedings. The candidates are an 82-year-old physician and three-time former president, Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid, and Nicolas Ardito Barletta, a former vice president of the World Bank. (A13:1.)

DANIEL F. CUFF ''It's a wonderful thing for the shareholders,'' Donald P. Kelly said of the $2.4 billion plan last week for a Wall Street investment house to take Esmark Inc. private. The comment by Mr. Kelly, Esmark's chairman and chief executive, was reflected on Wall Street, where shares in the big Chicago conglomerate shot up $12.375 on Thursday, the day of the offer, to $57.625. But the fact that traders pushed the open-market price well past the $55-a-share offer also seemed to indicate at first that an even more wonderful deal might be possible. Then, on Friday, the stock slipped back as the potential for other bidders seemed to fade.