Investors' confidence proved fragile Monday, as Wall Street shaved 198.79 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average on fears that terrorism brought down another U.S. commercial air plane.

        And although stocks plunged at the market's opening, just as news of the crash hit the news wires, they rebounded some in early afternoon as a mechanical malfunction — not terrorism — became the lead suspect in the crash of American Air lines 587.

        “When the idea was that it might be terrorist, the market was really scared,” said John Bowling, president of Cincinnati's Bowling Portfo lio Management.

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        Indeed, the Dow plunged to 9409.21 before closing at 9554.37, down 53.63. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed down 1.98 to 1118.33, recovering from its early low of 1098.32.

        Greater Cincinnati stocks followed suit, with the Enquirer 80 Index closing down 0.61 to 198.00 after falling as low as 195.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index fared better, closing up 11.65 points to 1840.13.

        “I think confidence is still there, to tell you the truth,” Mr. Bowling said. “Had this event not occurred, I think the market would have been up today.”

        Investors had been buying on increasing confidence about an economic turnaround in 2002. Friday, the Dow posted its best close since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, joining the rest of the market's major indicators in closing above pre-attack levels.

        But analysts said the market's comeback was vulnerable to investors' persistent fears about the possibility of more terror attacks and the spread of anthrax, which began soon after the attacks.

        The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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