The dollar held steady as dealers ignored Greenspan's latest remarks.

Crude oil prices soared, closing at the highest level since the Gulf War as a debate raged within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on whether or not to ease up on oil export curbs. Gold and silver prices fell on light volume.

The Nasdaq market, whose technology stocks are generally seen as more immune to interest rate hikes than cyclical and banking issues, slipped into the red late in the session after its big names like Microsoft Corp. weakened.

"I think the expectation that the Fed is going to hike rates is causing the blue chips to sell off," said Dan Ascani, of Global Market Strategists Inc. "I think that people have pretty much acknowledged that if the interest rate environment is going to remain hostile, then basic industry and financial stocks have had it, and the technology stocks may be somewhat cushioned."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 196.70 points, or 1.90 percent, to 10,170.50, giving back some of its gains from last week's surge of more than 5 percent.

Predictably, some of the Dow's losses came from interest rate-sensitive financial services firms like American Express Co., which lost 4-1/16 to 129-7/16.

But also hurting the stock index were technology components such as computer maker International Business Machines Corp., off 5-15/16 at 103-1/16, and software maker Microsoft, down 5-1/2 at 90-5/8.

Bill Gates, founder of Nasdaq-listed Microsoft, filed to sell about $28.65 million worth of common stock in the company, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and made available on Friday.

The sale represents a small fraction of Gates' holdings in Microsoft. As of September 1999, the latest available data showed he owned more than 780 million shares, or 15.3 percent, of Microsoft, a stake worth more than $73 billion at the current price.

Bucking the downtrend in the 30-stock Dow was computer maker Hewlett Packard Co., which jumped 7-2/16 to 145-9/16 after its spin-off, Agilent Technologies Inc., announced a new fiber-optic technology. Agilent surged 42-9/16 to 151-1/16.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index surrendered 17.89 points, or 1.27 percent, to 1,391.28, as fears about higher interest rates gnawed at cyclical and retail stocks. Rising oil prices eroded transportation stocks.

The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 9.92 points, or 0.2 percent, at 4,904.87, after setting a record close of 4,914.79 last Friday.

Analysts said technology stocks avoided more serious damage because tech companies often raise funds through venture capital and stock offerings, making them less subject to a slowdown in the current rising interest-rate environment.

In a speech in Boston, Greenspan repeated his message of last month that productivity-driven stock gains had boosted demand in the economy to a level where it could no longer be met by supply.

"It is still a tale of two markets," said Peter Coolidge, senior equity trader at Brean Murray & Co. "The higher interest rate environment seems to hurt stocks of the Old Economy while there is an argument to be made that technology and biotechnology shares are somewhat immune to interest rate increases. The problem is that this is getting somewhat overdone."

Adding to the market jitters, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt said on Monday that he was concerned many retail investors did not fully understand how the financial markets work and were overextending themselves.

The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond was down 7/32, or $2.1875 on each $1,000 of face value. The yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 6.15 percent from 6.13 percent at Friday's close.

In currency markets, the euro settled at $0.9588, down slightly from $0.9597 late on Friday. The dollar edged down to 107.40 Japanese yen from 107.72 yen.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for April delivery closed 67 cents higher at $32.18 a barrel, surpassing the closing price of $32.00 on January 16, 1991. It was also the highest price since November 29, 1990, when it settled at $32.91 after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August of that year.

Spot bullion was last quoted at $287.40, down from Friday's New York close of $289.20. Spot silver was quoted at $5.06, down from $5.04 at the previous close.