Bond Prices' Drop Weighs On Stocks
Stocks struggled to a mixed finish today, weighed down by weakness in the bond market as some surprisingly strong economic readings undermined confidence about inflation and interest rates.</br></br>But the Nasdaq market and other indexes that are dominated by smaller and more speculative shares outperformed the blue chips and set records again as investors hunted bargains.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.61 to 5635.05 as the past week's rebound continued to sputter. The barometer of 30 big U.S. companies had gained more than 28 points earlier in the day, but slid lower as bond prices fell and interest rates rose.</br></br>Broader measures dominated by larger companies retreated from modest gains as the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond -- a benchmark used to determine the interest charged on many loans -- topped 6.9 percent.</br></br>Bonds initially were weakened today by three reports that ran slightly counter to recent indications of moderate economic growth and modest inflation.