Stocks continued sliding Wednesday as a sharp jump in consumer prices last month fueled fears of inflation and renewed interest-rate increases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 115.05, or 1.1 percent, to 10,012.36, the blue chip’s index lowest close since Oct. 28. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 15.28, or 1.3 percent, to 1,137.50, its worst close since Nov. 2. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 18.60, or 1 percent, to 1,913.76.

Another surge in energy prices helped push the underlying inflation rate up to it highest number in 2-1/2 years in March, the Labor Department said. The Consumer Price Index was up 0.6 percent last month, the sharpest monthly gain since October, following a 0.4 percent rise in February. Stripping out volatile food and energy costs, core inflation had its biggest monthly increase since a matching 0.4 percent jump in August 2002.

Among local companies, Tag-It Pacific, Inc. gained 12.5 percent to $3.77 after the Woodland Hills-based apparel company announced that its Talon division had plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Guatemala to service Central America and a sales and marketing operation in Shanghai to serve the northern China region.

And Mossimo Inc. rose 0.7 percent to $4.23 after the Santa Monica-based apparel company said its board formed a special committee of independent directors to review a bid by founder and majority shareholder Mossimo Giannulli to take the company private. On April 11, Giannulli offered to buy all of the company’s outstanding, publicly held common shares for $4 per share.

On the down side, Smart & Final Inc. lost 15.6 percent to $10.21 after the L.A.-based food and janitorial supplies warehouse chain reported first-quarter net income of $3.2 million (10 cents per diluted share), down from $6.2 million (20 cents) for the like period a year earlier.