Stocks fell modestly in New York yesterday as an early rally faltered. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped about 28 points to 7,552 after surrendering an opening 75-point gain.
It was the third straight losing session for the Dow, which lost 102 points on Friday after a sharp sell-off in Japan rattled financial markets around the world.
Broader stock measures also turned lower despite some scattered demand for smaller companies that have less exposure to the economic turmoil overseas.
With no economic reports scheduled for tomorrow or Wednesday, the highlight of the session was an agreement by MCI to be bought by WorldCom for $37 billion.
WorldCom's bid overcame MCI's $28 billion offer from GTE and a $24 billion deal with BT. MCI jumped more than 10 per cent as the most active Nasdaq issue, followed by WorldCom, which fell.
