Now that the crisis atmosphere has abated, and the stock market has recovered some of its losses, investors are turning to other, higher-yielding securities.

But contributions to these trusts vary widely, and the rate of growth in their assets is impaired by strict Federal restrictions against investing in stocks and higher-yielding securities.

A number of developments during the session seemed to reduce the risk of buying longer-term, higher-yielding securities, which because of their maturity are generally seen as speculative investments.

Long-term interest rates moved lower again yesterday, as investors moved out of shorter-term notes and bills in favor of higher-yielding fixed-income securities.

Portfolio managers are buying higher-yielding securities with long maturities, reflecting their confidence that rates will not rise any time soon.

Besides these developments, some traders said an auction of $12.3 billion in new one-year Treasury bills helped to raise the prices of longer-term, higher-yielding securities, including bonds.

So don't be surprised if long-term rates fall further over the next several months - which would bolster the price of older, higher-yielding securities.

The rate rise would tend to weaken the dollar against the German mark as investors seek more marks to buy higher-yielding German securities.

But when interest rates began to rise this week, fund managers reversed those positions, selling 10-year Treasuries to buy higher-yielding mortgage-backed securities.

The Fed's aggressive action led bond investors to pull their money out of Treasuries and look for higher-yielding securities.