NEW YORK (AP) -- Safeway Inc. shares fell to a new low after the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate to help bolster the economy.

The Fed lowered its lending rate to banks by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25 percent on Sunday. The move came as JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it would buy Bear Stearns Cos. with the Fed's help to keep the troubled bank from sinking into bankruptcy.

The grocer's shares fell $1.06, or 3.7 percent, to $28 in afternoon trading Monday. The shares fell to a low of $27.79 earlier in the day. The stock has traded between $28.09 and $38.31 in the past year.

The stock hit the low with shares trading at about half their average volume.

Safeway's stock price has been falling since the start of the year.