Stocks in New York edged higher yesterday as the market steadied after Thursday's big slide, shaking off worries that not enough is being done to prevent the economic crises abroad from worsening.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21.89 points - or by 0.3 per cent - to 7,895.66 after meandering from an early 56-point gain to a 45-point loss.

Broader stock indicators also showed modest gains despite another sloppy day on foreign markets, many of which extended Thursday's steep decline.

Smaller-company shares outperformed the blue-chip group, which bobbed back into positive terrain during the final hour of trading.

Friday's gain left the Dow nearly 13 points below where it began the year, 7,908.25, and about 15.4 per cent beneath its July 17th record high of 9,337.97.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 1.22 to 1,020.09, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 17.52 to 1,663.77.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a seven-to-four margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,929 up, 1,111 down and 467 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 793.03 million shares as of 4pm, up from 691.83 million in the previous session.

The NYSE composite index rose 1.23 to 507.54, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 5.91 to 627.16.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.97 to 363.26.