Dow off 32.28
in narrow trading

NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average slipped today, but most popular stock measures set new highs again as interest rates hit another 17-month low in the bond market.

The Dow fell about 32.28 points to 8,222.61 after trading in a narrow range for much of the day. The Dow had closed at record highs in six of the past seven sessions, adding about 350 points over that span.

Advancers led decliners by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,745 up, 1,160 down and 525 unchanged. NYSE volume was 547.83 million shares vs. 568.48 million yesterday. Broader stock indicators traced the movements of the bond market, which struggled in the morning, but managed to post a sizable gain for the third straight day.

The Standard & Poor's 500 list rose 2.02 to 954.31, and the NYSE index rose 0.94 to 494.51, the third consecutive record highs for both measures. The Nasdaq index closed at a record high for the second day in a row, rising 5.92 to 1,593.97, and the American Stock Exchange composite rose 0.98 to 646.30, its fourth straight record finish.

Bonds initially drew a boost from a report confirming that U.S. economic growth slowed sharply in the April-June quarter as consumers took a breather from a first-quarter spending spree that threatened spur rapid inflation.

As bonds rose today, the yield on the 30-year Treasury -- a key determinant of borrowing costs -- dropping from yesterday's 6.32 percent, which was the lowest finish since February 1996, to 6.30 percent. Earlier in the day, however, the long-bond yield bobbed as high as 6.34 percent.