Worried Investors Send Dow Down 13.72

Some late bargain-hunting helped stocks recover part of their losses Monday, but the broad market ended mostly lower as underlying concerns deepened about rising interest rates and inflation.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.72 points to 5,464.31, rebounding from a loss of 55 earlier in the afternoon.

The blue-chip index - which lost about 90 points last week as new signs of strong economic growth aggravated concerns about inflation and sent long-term interest rates above 7 percent - has now fallen nearly 4 percent from its all-time high set just over a month ago.

Most broader blue-chip measures were lower too. But in keeping with the recent trend, those indexes dominated by more speculative issues managed some small gains after a late rebound.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 11 to 9 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume totaled 375.66 million shares as of 4 p.m., down from Friday’s pace.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily:

NYSE

Agco, up 2-1/8 at 29.

The company is acquiring the agricultural equipment business of Iochpe-Maxion SA for about $260 million. Iochpe-Maxion is Agco’s licensee in Brazil, making tractors and combines under the Massey Ferguson brand name. Agco said the purchase will give it a 45 percent share of the Brazilian agricultural tractor market.

Zenith Electronics, up 7-1/4 at 22-7/8.

The stock has more than doubled in the week since Zenith announced plans to enter the online business with two new modem systems that will enable cable operators to offer their subscribers access to the Internet.

NASDAQ

Apple Computer, up 1-3/4 at 25-5/8.

IBM confirmed an arrangement to use and resell the software that runs Apple’s Macintosh computer but said it won’t immediately build Macs itself. The move is designed to help IBM sell the PowerPC microprocessor chips it co-developed with Apple and Motorola. IBM can now give potential makers of PowerPC machines more of the ingredients needed to build a computer.

ValuJet, down 2-1/2 at 18-1/8.

The low-fare airline reported late Friday that it’s load factor - percentage of seats filled - fell to 62 percent in April from 75 percent a year ago. ValuJet attributed the decline to a “more aggressive pricing environment.”

Comparator Systems, up 23/32 at 1.

The company set a one-day volume record for a Nasdaq stock, trading 149 million shares. Comparator announced plans to unveil a new line of identity verification systems next week. The systems may be used for applications such as passports, drivers licenses, credit-card authorizations, check cashing and automatic teller machines.