NEW YORK - The stock market put its rally back on hold as investors worried about rising borrowing costs.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell almost 175 points Wednesday, erasing most of the previous day's rally as a jump in government bond yields fanned concerns that higher interest rates will sap strength from the economy.

A steep drop in the price of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note pushed its yield up to 3.75 percent from 3.55 percent late Tuesday and to the highest level since November. Bond investors were selling on concerns that the huge amount of debt the government is selling to fund its bailout programs will ultimately keep Treasury prices down.

Along with increasing borrowing costs for the government, rising yields on Treasury debt could hamper an economic recovery since they are used as benchmarks for home mortgages and other kinds of loans. Higher mortgage rates could delay a recovery in the battered housing market.

"The equity market is getting worried about the 'green shoots.' I think the deer have nipped off a few and I think a few turned out to be weeds," said Hank Herrmann, chief executive of Waddell & Reed. Herrmann was referring to early positive signs in the economy that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has called "green shoots."

While Wall Street has been rallying for most of the past three months on those early signs of recovery, it has also been vulnerable to unexpected turns such as the jump in Treasury yields.

"Stocks are following bonds," said John Brady, senior vice president of global interest rate products at MF Global. "Will the economy grow and expand vigorously in the face of sustained higher interest rates?"

The Dow lost ground for the fifth time in six days, falling 173.47, or 2.1 percent, to 8,300.02 after rising 196 points on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 17.27, or 1.9 percent, to 893.06, and the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index fell 19.35, or 1.1 percent, to 1,731.08.

On Tuesday, stocks soared after an upbeat reading on consumer confidence lifted hopes for an economic rebound later this year.

The Dow is still 26.8 percent above the lows it reached in early March, but 41.4 percent below the record high it hit in October 2007.

The drop in bond prices Wednesday followed a well-received auction of $35 billion in five-year notes and a day ahead of an auction of $26 billion in 7-year notes. All told, the government plans to turn out $101 billion in debt this week.

Some traders fear demand for Treasurys could weaken as the government issues massive amounts of debt to fund its financial and economic rescue programs.