Stocks Turn Downward, Bond Interest Rates Rise
ÐÊ NEW YORK, March 6ÛÓStock prices turned mostly lower today, and bond market interest rates rose, reflecting worries about Friday's report on February employment and more signs that the economy may be growing fast enough to rekindle inflation.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.15 points to close at 6944.70. The blue-chip barometer, which gained 93 points Wednesday, surrendered an early 42-point advance, but withstood much of the afternoonÛªs selling as investors clung to big companies that are considered less volatile.</br></br>Bellwether technology stocks suffered the sharpest losses, faltering after several sessions of recovery from recent profit-taking in the sector.</br></br>Stocks started the day higher, but later declined, along with bond prices, due to jitters about Friday morningÛªs reading on payroll and wage levels, a key force behind production costs and inflation. Heightening anxieties were reports that orders to U.S. factories rose at an unexpected level in January and that the number of first-time claims for jobless benefits fell to an eight-year low last week.</br></br>Other recent signs of economic strength have fueled fears the Federal Reserve will soon raise its key lending rates to slow things down before inflation has a' chance to accelerate. Last week, Greenspan warned that the central bank would not hesitate to raise rates preemptively.