Stocks in New York pulled back yesterday as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to fight the global economic crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average, which was up 15 points as Fed officials concluded their latest strategy meeting, dropped 28.32 points - or by 0.3 per cent - at 8,080.52.

The Dow sank as much as 93 points after the Fed announced that it was lowering one of its key lending rates by a quarter-percentage point, the first reduction in nearly three years.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.32 to 1,049.01, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 5.17 to 1,734.05.

Declining issues barely outnumbered advancers, with 1,520 up, 1,544 down and 484 unchanged.