Stocks in New York resumed a downward lurch yesterday as continued concerns about interest rates and inflation put the brakes on Wednesday's rally. At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 235.23, a 2.2 per cent loss. It was the ninth worst point Microsoft and Intel, finished with only a slight loss of 8.04 to 2,419.14. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 23.35 to 1,281.41. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by an 11-to-six margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,936 down, 1,041 up and 551 unchanged.

Some of the selling came from investors cashing in on Wednesday's rally in advance of the Memorial Day weekend, but the strongest factor was the continuing fear that inflation would prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.