Dow off 13.04

NEW YORK -- Stock prices fell today, forcing investors to contend with the possibility that the Dow Jones industrial average might not close above 10,000 any time soon.

The blue-chip index crossed 10,000 several times last week in intraday trading. Today it failed even to do that, meandering throughout the session and ending off 13.04 at 9,890.51. That's about 110 points away from 10,000, but the Dow is still up just under 8 percent so far this year.

Cable TV and Internet stocks provided some upward momentum to the technology sector, but personal computer shares sold off, leaving the Nasdaq composite index down 25.35 at 2,395.92 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index off 2.28 at 1,297.01.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 7-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,212 up, 1,719 down and 585 unchanged.

NYSE volume totaled 661.02 million shares vs. 911.43 million on Friday.

The NYSE composite index fell 0.19 to 610.49, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 5.49 to 717.36

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.38 to 393.20.

As for blue-chip names, Edward M. Kerschner, stock market strategist at PaineWebber, said that unless interest rates move meaningfully lower or 1999 earnings growth is significantly higher than current forecasts of 5 percent to 8 percent, "expect -- in the best case -- to see the market stall around these levels for a good few months."

Interest rates edged higher in the bond market, reversing an earlier decline. The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds rose to 5.57 percent from 5.55 on Friday.