Stocks closed mixed in New York yesterday as investors failed to shake their nervousness about inflation and interest rates.

At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow was down 47.80, or 0.5 per cent, at 10,302.13, having surrendered an earlier 59-point gain. The blue chips fell 120 points on Monday amid uneasiness over higher rates.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 10.19 to 1,283.44, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.73 to 2,818.68.

Declining issues were ahead of advancers by a margin of about 8 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,883 stocks falling, 1,183 rising and 486 unchanged.

NYSE volume came to 868.60 million shares, ahead of Monday's pace.

The Russell 2000 index fell 1.77 to 415.99.