STOCKS drifted lower in New York yesterday in a surprisingly quiet session following days of sharp volatility.

Despite the drop in the Dow, advancing issues led decliners by three to two on the New York Stock Exchange.

Volume was moderate at under 400 million shares, below Tuesday's pace.

Broad market indexes were higher after waffling in the morning, with the Nasdaq composite lifted by technology stocks.

Stocks were helped a little by bonds, where the long bond was up nearly a fifth of a point, yielding 6.67 per cent, recovering from a half a point loss this morning.

Mr Leon Brand, a global market strategist at NatWest Securities, said many investors pulled out of the market this afternoon to wait for tomorrow's wholesale price report and consumer price data due out tomorrow.

"People got in this morning and did what they had to do, and now they're just waiting," he said.