BLUE chip stocks slid again yesterday on Wall Street, but the broad market was mixed as trading steadied from Monday's sharp sell-off on worries about rising interest rates and inflation.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks dropped 33.96 points to close at 5,560.41.

The widely-watched barometer of big companies had lost about 88 points on Monday.

Several other key indexes finished lower, but advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange and the technology-heavy Nasdaq index rose as issues in that hard-hit sector rose again after cushioning the market's fall on Monday amid improving assessments by analysts.

Trading was relatively quiet as investors braced for new readings on the economy, particularly Thursday's and Friday's reports on inflation in consumer and wholesale prices.

Among technology stocks, Intel and Dell Computer gained in active Nasdaq trading.