September 17, 1986

Wall Street turned in a mixed performance yesterday as investors, still stung by the recent sharp drop in stock prices, continued to gravitate toward safer, blue-chip issues. Trading volume, meanwhile, slumped for the second consecutive day, a development that market analysts said was a direct result of the upcoming ''triple witching hour,'' which occurs this Friday, when stock index futures, stock index options and individual stock options expire simultaneously. Trading has been highly volatile on past witching hour Fridays. On March 21, for example, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 36 points, and on June 20, it rose almost 24 points.

A fire broke out in a South African gold mine today, killing at least 44 miners with toxic gas and leaving 154 men missing underground, according to the mine owners. More than 180 people were reported under treatment after escaping or being rescued from the gas fumes. About two-thirds of the the injured, and all of the dead, were said to be blacks. Earlier in the evening, South Africa's Government-controlled television reported that ''hope is fading fast'' for the miners said to be missing more than 5,000 feet underground. The television broadcast said the accident could be one of the worst in South Africa's mining history.

An article in Metropolitan Report on Monday about Stanley M. Friedman, the Bronx Democratic leader, misstated Henry Sheinkopf's relationship to Mr. Friedman. Mr. Sheinkopf is the spokesman for the Bronx Overall Development Corporation, not for Mr. Friedman.

With wary investors attracted mostly to safer, blue-chip stocks, Wall Street yesterday turned in a mixed performance. After declining as much as 18 points in the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 10.96 points to close at 1,778.54, but other broader market indexes retreated.

The 1988 Presidential campaign formally began today as Pierre S. du Pont 4th, a former Governor of Delaware, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. He called for mandatory drug testing of all teen-agers and work programs to replace welfare. Mr. du Pont, 51 years old, chose an unlikely date, seven weeks before the end of the 1986 campaign, to announce in his state's largest city what even his supporters acknowledge is a long-shot candidacy. But the candidate, who bears one of the most illustrious names in American business, sought to improve his chances with a series of provocative proposals. In addition to those on drugs and welfare, they included an end to any government involvement in the ''agricultural marketplace'' and a program of government loans to anyone who wants a college education or job training.