Dow gains 36

NEW YORK -- Blue-chip shares clung to a small gain, but most stocks turned lower today as interest rates worries overshadowed a stream of merger deals, including another blockbuster deal.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose just 36.37 points to close at 9,091.52, and would have barely finished higher if not for some outsized gains from DuPont Co. and General Motors Corp. An early gain of 135 briefly put the Dow within 3 points of last Monday's record of 9,192.66 by the blue-chip measure.

Decliners led advancers by a 9-to-7 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,293 up, 1,667 down and 566 unchanged. NYSE volume was 556.97 million shares vs. 556.98 million Friday.

Broader indexes surrendered all of their gains as interest rates rose in a jittery bond market more concerned about economic matters than mergers, particularly with two key inflation reports due this week.

The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1.50 to 1,106.64, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 16.30 to 1,848.05. The NYSE composite index fell 0.45 to 575.27, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 0.20 to 744.03. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.61 to 476.90.

The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond was down 7/8 point, or $8.75 per $1,000 in face value, by late afternoon, while its yield rose to 6.04 percent from 5.98 percent late Friday. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Stocks opened the day higher amid news that fast-growing phone giant SBC Communications Corp. had agreed to purchase rival Ameritech Corp.

Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei stock average rose 1.5 percent.