NEW YORK -- Stocks fell today as renewed interest rate jitters and troubling developments in Asia negated some early excitement over a potential merger between Chrysler Corp. and Germany's Daimler-Benz AG. Dow dives 93
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 92.92 points to 9,054.65. An early 32-point gain had put the blue-chip measure within 13 points of Monday's record close of 9,192.66.
Decliners led advancers by an 8-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,134 up, 1,835 down and 559 unchanged. NYSE volume was 595.20 million shares vs. 573.06 million yesterday.
Broad-market indicators also surrendered early gains as investors remained cautious in advance of Friday's report on payroll and wage levels, two inflation gauges.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 10.73 to 1,104.92, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 8.23 to 1,856.68. The NYSE composite index fell 5.18 to 574.57, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 1.95 to 743.33. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.37 to 479.37.
The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond rose 19/32 point, or $5.94 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield fell to 5.94 percent from 5.98 percent late yesterday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Besides inflation fears, stocks were also pressured by unsettling reminders that the Asian backdrop has hardly stabilized.
In Indonesia, stocks tumbled 4.7 percent amid a third day of rioting over government price increases. Elsewhere in the region, stocks fell 2.3 percent in Tokyo and 3.9 percent in South Korea.