THE Dow Jones industrial average took another blow yesterday in a volatile session that sent the blue chip barometer dipping below the 6,500 mark for the first time since early January.

Broad market measures also pulled back sharply in what turned out to be the third steep sell off in the past four sessions.

The index fell 94.04 to 6,517.01, trimming the year's gain to just 1 per cent. It slipped by more than 100 points twice during the afternoon.

The Nasdaq composite index, dominated by technology shares and other relatively volatile companies that investors are increasingly avoiding, briefly sank below 1,200 for the first time since last September.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than a 2 to 1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 850 up, 1,743 down and 732 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 478.13 million shares against 507.06 million in the previous session.