Dow Dips Amid Bargain Hunting
Lower interest rates and some bargain hunting helped steady the stock market today as most indexes reversed course and averted a continuation of Thursday's big slide.</br></br>Growing pessimism about corporate earnings and inflation prevented a big rebound for the second time this week.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average fell 9.98 to 5510.56, having recovered from a midday drop that threatened to give the blue-chip average its third loss of more than 50 points in six sessions.</br></br>Some broad indexes rose, but the beleaguered Nasdaq Stock Market failed to erase all of the day's losses as investors worried about where technology and speculative shares might bottom out.</br></br>Bond prices were bolstered by government reports showing wholesale prices rose a moderate 0.2 percent in June while retail sales fell for the second time in three months.