The Dow lost 15.49 points to close at 6,804.79. But excluding Philip Morris and Eastman Kodak, which together fell the equivalent of about 45 Dow points, the blue-chip barometer would be showing a gain on the day.

Advancers led decliners by a slim margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,258 up, 1,184 down and 901 unchanged. NYSE volume was 534.37 million shares vs. 496.88 million yesterday.

Broader stock measures were mixed, with blue-chip and larger-company shares posting modest gains. But the Nasdaq market, which yesterday broke a seven-session losing streak, turned lower late in the day.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 1.45 to 784.10, and the NYSE's composite index rose 1.02 to 412.80. The Nasdaq composite index fell 5.19 to 1,254.07, and the American Stock Exchange index fell 0.33 to 591.22.

Stocks started the day higher as investors tried to move past recent concerns about the Federal Reserve's policymaking meeting on Tuesday, when the central bank is expected to raise interest rates.

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking yesterday before the congressional Joint Economic Committee, warned that the economy has been expanding at a rapid pace that could exacerbate inflationary pressures such as production costs. He again asserted that the central bank may have to raise rates to slow borrowing and spending before inflation has a chance to become a problem.

"The market has already adapted to the expected Fed tightening and Tuesday is becoming a nonevent," said Larry Wachtel, an analyst at Prudential Securities. "Are we going to replay 1994, with seven Fed tightenings? Or will the Fed raise interest rates next week and that will be it? That's what the market is looking at now."

By late afternoon in New York, the price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was off 1/32 point, while its yield was at 6.95 percent, unchanged from yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.