BIZWATCH : MARKETS.

MARKET LOGIC: Stocks were lower today in lifeless trading as a late blue-chip rally with bonds quickly evaporated. Technology and more-speculative issues continued to struggle, weighing down the Nasdaq and American stock markets. Just before the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up about 3 points, snapping a five-session losing streak that had amounted to less than 50 points, punctuating the prevailing uncertainties about the direction of inflation and interest rates.

MEMO HONOR: CIGNA HealthCare of Southern California was honored Monday by the Valley Industry and Commerce Association for helping the nonpartisan business advocacy organization's attempts to contain health care costs. The operator of health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations was given the Robert E. Gibson Corporate Award for Excellence during VICA's annual dinner at the Sheraton Universal Hotel.

``VICA is proud to honor CIGNA HealthCare of California for its significant contributions to the true economic growth and vitality of our community and for its leadership with the health care industry,'' said VICA chairman Marvin R. Selter.

``As a member of VICA, CIGNA has played an important role in helping to formulate and implement VICA's advocacy in health care reform both locally and nationally.''

FALLING BILLS: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Monday's auction. The Treasury Department sold $13.6 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 5.08 percent, down from 5.16 percent last week. An additional $13.5 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average rate of 5.27 percent, down from 5.34 percent.

MORTGAGE PAYMENTS: The percentage of homeowners behind in mortgage payments fell slightly during the January-March quarter, but remained well above the level of a year earlier. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday that the seasonally adjusted delinquency rate on one- to four-unit homes was 4.46 percent, down from 4.48 percent during the final three months of 1995.

NEW INSULIN: Diabetics soon will be able to choose a new type of insulin that promises to work faster than current therapy. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Humalog, a product that is essentially conventional insulin with a twist. Eli Lilly & Co. switched two amino acids in the synthetic hormone so that it would work faster than regular insulin, to better mimic the rapid way a healthy body produces insulin after eating a meal.

SOUNDS GOOD TO US: Readers spent 2.9 percent more on newspapers last year than in 1994, shelling out a total of $9.72 billion, figures released Monday by an industry trade group show. Sunday newspaper spending rose more quickly than daily expenditures, increasing by 3.2 percent compared with 2.7 percent. The Newspaper Associated of America, which released the preliminary estimates at its NEXPO '96 conference in Las Vegas, said overall circulation and advertising expenditures rose 5.1 percent last year to $45.8 billion.

Also released at NEXPO '96: Newspaper readership remains strong, with about seven in 10 Americans reading at least one newspaper during the week and 57 percent reading a newspaper daily, according to a survey by Gannett Co., Inc. The survey on newspaper readership found that daily newspapers are preferred over all other media as the primary source of advertising information.

MOVING ON: Clearing the last hurdle in a regulatory steeplechase, Viacom Inc. said Monday that the Internal Revenue Service had approved its plan to spin off its cable systems on a tax-free basis to Tele-Communications Inc. A spokesman for Viacom, Carl Folta, said the company planned to begin an exchange offer for the cable company as scheduled next Monday.

CAPTION(S):

Chart: (1) DOW INDUSTRIALS

(2) BRAZIL'S BIKE MARKET