Stock Market Sags to 6-Week Low
NEW YORK, March 7ÛÓThe stock market sagged to a six-week low today under the pressure of continuing interest-rate worries.</br></br>The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, down 11.48 points on Wednesday, fell another 8.84 to 1,271.53. That marked the average's lowest close since it stood at 1,270.43 on Jan. 24.</br></br>The market has been beset lately by fears that the recent upswing in interest rates will continue. That prospect was reinforced in many investorsÛª minds when Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker talked Wednesday of the possibility that the dollar might tumble from its recent lofty heights in foreign exchange.</br></br>Analysts say a falling dollar would stand to dampen foreign investorsÛª enthusiasm for U.S. securities such as Treasury bills and bonds. That reduction of demand for interest-bearing securities could create significant upward pressure on interest rates in this country.</br></br>Interest rates continued to climb in the credit markets today. Rates on short-term T bills rose about 12 to 15 basis points, or hundredths of a percentage point.