Weakness in bonds hits shares

WALL Street stocks slid lower yesterday as interest rates rose on bonds and investors grew wary of what surprises might emerge…

WALL Street stocks slid lower yesterday as interest rates rose on bonds and investors grew wary of what surprises might emerge from a raft of new economic reports this week.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks lost 65.39 points to close at 5,565.10. The index set new records on Thursday and Friday, resuming a powerful rally that began in late January amid optimism for lower interest rates.

Bonds continued their downward trend of the past two weeks, with the 30 year Treasury note down almost a half point and its interest rate rising to 6.447 per cent.

Declines today outnumbered advances by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 797 up, 1,612 down and 696 unchanged.

READ MORE

Big Board volume totalled 395.18 million shares, against 439.14 million in the previous session. The NYSE's composite index fell 3.99 to 346.95. The Standard and Poor's 500 stock index fell 8.62 to 650.46.