Dow Up a Fraction on Interest Rate Concerns
NEW YORK, Sept. 29ÛÓStocks closed mixed today after a rise in interest rates cast a pall on the markets, especially the Nasdaq, where a record-set-ting surge stalled.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.28 of a point to 3566.30. Declining issues narrowly outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange, with volume at 277.3 million shares, up from 243.3 million.</br></br>Treasury bond prices fell sharplyÛÓand rates roseÛÓin cautious trading ahead of the release of statistics expected to show growth in the economy. The bond market often reacts negatively to signs of growth, which can mean rising inflation and higher interest rates, both of which can erode the value of Treasury securities and other fixed-income investments.</br></br>The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond dropped 27/32 point, or $8.44 per $1,000 in face value. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 5.99 percent from 5.94 percent Tuesday.</br></br>were stoked by a jump in oil prices after OPEC agreed to limit exports. Crude oil soared 71 cents, to $18.67 a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the accord.