Worries Over Dollar Help Push Dow Down 12.80
Blue-chip stocks changed direction to end lower today as rising commodities prices and a jump in bond interest rates robbed stocks of early gains that were fueled by better-than-expected profits for the first quarter.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average closed 12.80 points lower at 4195.38 after surrendering an early advance of more than 25 points. In the broader market, declining issues slightly outnumbered advancing stocks on active trading of more than 333 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.</br></br>Analysts said stock traders were worried that the dollar's continued slump and rising crude oil and precious metals prices could fuel inflation.</br></br>The stock market recently has risen to all-time highs -- the last record was set Thursday when the Dow closed at 4208.18 -- on investors' expectations that the economy is heading toward a "soft landing" with subdued inflation and moderate growth.</br></br>In late New York trading, the dollar was quoted at 82.05 Japanese yen, down from 83.33 late Friday. The dollar also was changing hands in New York at 1.3665 German marks, down from 1.3910. {By midday Tuesday in Tokyo, the dollar was lower, trading at 81.68 yen.} + The Standard & Poor's 500-stock composite index fell 3.10 points to 506.13, the American Stock Exchange index rose 1.15 to 473.11, the NYSE composite index dropped 1.46 to 273.54 and the Nasdaq index lost 1.82 to 830.82.