By JOHN CRUDELE

Published: September 10, 1985

Takeover speculation stole investors’ attention yesterday on Wall Street, where the market scored only a minor gain despite some impressive increases in the shares of potential buyout candidates.

Among the companies affected by the speculation were Richardson-Vicks, General Foods, Northwest Airlines, Cessna, Rorer, CBS and MCA. Anthony Woodruff, head of the arbitrage department at Kidder, Peabody & Company, said the explosion of buyout stories might have been started by Unilever’s disclosure that it wants to acquire Richardson-Vicks.

The Unilever offer, which had been rumored on Friday, gave speculators confidence that recent rumors about other companies might be correct.

Slight Edge for Winners

The Dow Jones industrial average, coming off a 9.86-point gain on Friday, rose another 3.58 points, to finish at 1,339.27. The average share gained 2 cents, as advancing issues outpaced losers by a margin of only 766 to 725.

The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.07, to 109.12, and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gained a scant 0.01, to 188.25.

Trading volume dipped to 89.9 million shares, from 95 million Friday.

Pacing that volume was Richardson-Vicks, which turned down Unilever’s $54-a-share bid, but rose anyway to 46 1/8, for a 6 1/8-point gain. Unilever said it still believes the merger would be logical, but did not say if it would pursue a hostile bid.

General Foods, which has a history of sharp increases on buyout speculation, rose 7 1/8, to 87 1/2. One rumor was that Phillip Morris had raised $6 billion in credit that it might use in a deal for General Foods. Neither company would comment.

Cessna Up 1 7/8

Merger speculation also sent the shares of Cessna up 1 7/8, to 27 5/8. General Dynamics is rumored to be the party interested in the maker of small aircraft. And MCA rose 2 1/4, to 72 3/4, after sources said the company held negotiations with RCA on Friday. The two companies reportedly had merger talks earlier this year.

Sybron fell 1, to 21, despite the fact that last week’s takeover rumors on the company proved correct. The concern was offered a $255 million leveraged buyout. That was less than traders had anticipated.

SCM rose 1/8, to finish at 73 1/8, despite being sharply lower during the session. Merrill Lynch decided not to outbid Hansen Trust for the company, but the broker said it was studying other options.

Interco ended the session off 1/4, at 71 3/4, after being sharply higher at times during the day. It has been linked in recent takeover rumors to Chicago Pacific.

Analysts said the stock market’s performance yesterday indicated that investors were still not convinced about the direction of the economy.

Surge in Employment

On Friday, the Government reported a surge in employment, which caused a rally in the stock market and a sharp dip in bonds. But traders said that economic gauge alone was not enough to establish a trend.

»People aren’t yet impressed by the handsome business improvement,» said Eric Miller of the Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation, who believes the confidence-building process is under way. He believes stocks have already hit bottom in the current trading range.

The American Stock Exchange index rose 0.03, to 232.41, and in over-the-counter trading the Nasdaq index fell 0.13, to 296.06.

graph of N.Y.S.E. issues traded