Dow off 16
after price report

NEW YORK -- Stocks dipped modestly today, taking a cue from declining bond prices, after an unexpected rise in producer prices set off inflation jitters.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 16.21 to close at 8,045.21, recovering from a 58-point loss earlier in the day.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 7-to-6 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,311 up, 1,552 down and 536 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 499.70 million shares vs. 549.79 million yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list fell 3.64 to 966.98, and the NYSE composite index fell 1.31 to 506.85.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 6.82 to 1,739.03. The Russell 2,000 list of small stocks edged forward slightly amid the declines to capture another record high. The American Stock Exchange composite index, fell 0.15 to 717.37, its third straight decline after a string of seven record highs.

Prices in the inflation-sensitive bond market slumped in early trading today, while the yield on Treasury's benchmark 30-year bond, which moves in the opposite direction of prices, jumped to 6.42 percent from 6.36 percent late yesterday.

Inflation-sensitive bank stocks were hard hit today, with Chase Manhattan, Wells Fargo and BankAmerica all down.

Pressure on stocks and bonds came this morning when the Labor Department reported that inflation at the wholesale level climbed 0.5 percent last month, nearly double economists' estimates.