Stocks closed higher in New York yesterday, but pulled back from substantial gains in the final 15 minutes of trading after President Clinton reiterated that Serb leaders will be "held accountable" if peace talks on Kosovo collapse and a Nato bombing campaign is needed there.

The Standard and Poor's 500 composite index rose 1.91 to 1,239.21, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 22.90 to 2,283.45.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by 1,530 to 1,413 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 610 unchanged. NYSE volume totalled 696.93 million shares, against 738.56 million previously. The NYSE composite index rose 0.10 to 586.56, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.75 to 692.57.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.20 to 392.29.