Dow off 34
on new rate fears

NEW YORK -- Stocks finished mostly lower today as a sudden wave of inflation jitters escalated with some unsettling developments at home and abroad.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.64 to close at 8,061.42, after recovering from an early 92-point drop that nearly dragged the barometer below 8,000.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,189 up, 1,742 down and 487 unchanged. NYSE volume was 549.74 million shares vs. 572.27 million yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list fell 3.22 to 970.62, and the NYSE composite index fell 1.41 to 508.16. The Nasdaq composite index rose 4.08 to 1,745.85, its sixth consecutive record close.

The Russell 2000 rose 0.89 to 464.55, easily erasing yesterday's loss of 0.12 and pushing back into record terrain.

But the American Stock Exchange composite index, which is dominated by smaller companies, slipped 1.08 to 717.22, its second straight decline after a string of seven record highs.

Bonds ended higher after sinking twice: once after the German and French central banks boosted lending rates, and again after a report showing more upward pressure on U.S. wages, the dominant force behind inflation. The yield on the 30-year Treasury rose as high as 6.46 percent before it finally eased to 6.35 percent.

The unsettling news came a day after Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, shook up investors by telling a congressional panel that the good times behind this bull market could falter.