US blue-chip issues managed some gains yesterday, but stocks were mostly lower along with bonds as investors continued to show hesitance in advance of the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates in early July.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 20.32 points to close at 5,648.35. But that was down from a gain of 46 points earlier in the afternoon, when the Dow briefly broke free of the narrow, indecisive trading range that has characterised this week and last.

Declines outnumbered advances by about seven to five on the New York Stock Exchange, with 968 up, 1,379 down and 813 unchanged. NYSE volume totalled 375.29 million shares, against 363.82 million in the previous session.

The NYSE composite index fell 0.26 to 355.32, and the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 0.10 to 661.96. The Nasdaq composite index fell 4.17 to 1,178.91, and the American Stock Exchange's market value index fell 0.06 to 588.93.