Blue-Chip stocks fell sharply yesterday on persistent interest rate fears, sending the Dow Jones industrial average briefly below 10,000.

The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index, which fluctuated throughout the day, reached a new closing high for the second day in a row.

At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow was down 133.41 at 10,092.63. In earlier trading, the index fell as low as 9,944.02 before bargain hunters stepped in. The Nasdaq finished up 66.91 at 4,617.24.

"Rising rates are hurtful to the economy and the components of the Dow are adjusting to that," said Mr Larry Wachtel, market analyst with Prudential Securities.

NYSE volume totalled 1.16 billion shares, against 975.5 million in the previous session. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.98 to 553.89.