Stocks finished mostly lower in New York yesterday, except for a rally in technology and Internet shares that lifted the Nasdaq composite index to its seventh consecutive record high.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.43 to 9,616.89. While down from Friday's record high of 9,643.32, the blue-chip index did rebound from a 110-point loss earlier yesterday afternoon.

Blue-chip stocks were dragged down by a softer dollar, which began last week to gain prominence as a concern in the stock market because it is pushing interest rates higher. Higher interest rates generally are not good for stocks because they would raise corporations' operating costs and could cut into earnings.