NEW YORK - The fear of higher interest rates returned to Wall Street today after a three-session hiatus, sending blue-chip stocks and bond prices sharply lower. Dow off 143
At the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 143.74 at 10,765.64. Broader stock indicators also fell.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 17.19 to 1,317.33, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index fell 49.65 to 2,474.56.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by an 8-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,789 down, 1,131 up and 620 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 680.63 million shares vs. 657.44 million yesterday.
The NYSE composite index fell 6.17 to 630.77, and the American Stock Exchange composite index fell 5.23 to 772.92. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.89 to 443.76.
The 30-year Treasury bond fell, briefly boosting its yield above 6 percent for the first time since May 1998, after comments by two Federal Reserve officials fanned speculation that the central bank will boost interest rates soon, possibly at its next meeting June 29-30.
William Poole, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said he "would share the view" that the odds have changed in the direction of higher inflation. Poole spoke at a Boston Federal Reserve conference.
In Amelia Island, Fla., Richmond Fed President Alfred Broaddus said a report last month showing a jump in consumer prices in April was "the most troubling" in some time.
The long bond fell 10/32, or $3.13 per $1,000 security, to 89 25/32. Its yield rose 2 basis points to 5.99 percent at the day's end.