Blue-chip stocks halted a week-long slump yesterday, recording modest gains in quiet trading before some key economic data due today. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52.56 points - or 0.6 per cent - to 8,951.52, snapping a five-session, 285-point slide that followed last Tuesday's record close of 9,184.94.

The broad market posted modest gains for the second straight session, recovering more of the ground lost in Monday's steep slide.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly a two-to-one margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,924 up, 1,040 down and 530 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 638.09 million shares, as against 677.74 million in the previous session.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 19.87 to 1,851.64.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.44 to 476.98, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 9.29 to 742.32.