Technology issues brought some strength to Wall Street yesterday, driving most stocks higher and helping the Dow Jones industrials end a four-day losing streak.

At the close of trading, the Dow was up 108.60 at 10,937.88, a gain of 1 per cent. It was the first gain for the blue-chip index since last Wednesday, when the index closed at 11,326.04. Broader stock indicators also closed higher.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 10.65 to 1,331.06, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.46 to 2,750.81. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a four-to-three margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,711 up, 1,293 down and 518 unchanged.

Analysts remained somewhat sceptical about how strong the market really is, with summer holidays and continued worries about higher interest rates combining to keep many investors on the sidelines.