Wall Street little changed after last week's big decline; stocks slip in Europe and Asia

NEW YORK - Prices were mixed on Wall Street today as the stock market sought direction after last week's big decline.

NEW YORK - Prices were mixed on Wall Street today as the stock market sought direction after last week's big decline.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 56.67 at 10,076.38 in the first hour of trading, while other major market indicators retreated.

Overseas markets were down. In London, the Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100 index was down 0.95 percent, while the DAX index in Frankfurt was down 1.19 percent and the CAC index in Paris was off 0.97 percent.

Asian stock markets were broadly lower. In Tokyo, the benchmark 225 issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.9 percent.

The drop in New York last week "has certainly been the single biggest factor driving the market at the moment," said Toshihiko Matsuno, deputy manager of the investment advisory office at Tokyo's Yamatane Securities Co.

The Dow fell 630.05 points, or 5.9 percent, to close Friday at 10,019.71, largely on fear that emerging signs of inflation will force the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the third time this year.

It was the Dow's worst week ever in terms of points lost, and the worst of the decade in terms of percentage. On Friday alone, the average lost 266.90 points, or 2.6 percent.

The fall Friday was precipitated by comments late Thursday from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who expressed concern about the stability of U.S. stock prices.

Shares were also hit by the announcement Friday that U.S. wholesale prices had risen 1.1 percent in September ÿ far above the market estimate of 0.5 percent. That raised fears of inflation in the United States.