BUSINESS MEMO: NO INTEREST HIKE

The Federal Reserve, citing tentative signs economic growth has slowed, decided Wednesday against raising interest rates a seventh time in a year, but Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues left the door open to further increases, perhaps as soon as August, should inflation pressures worsen.

Wall Street had little immediate reaction to the decision, widely anticipated, although stocks lost ground in later trading as investors turned their worries to the possibility of higher rates.