Stocks faltered in a move toward record highs in New York yesterday, finishing with only slim gains even as long-term interest rates fell to an all-time low in the bond market.

The Dow Jones industrial average recovered from a 52-point loss to close 13.95 points higher at 7,978.99, but only after surrendering a 70-point gain that had put the blue-chip barometer above 8,000 for the first time in nearly a month.

Broad-market indicators also struggled, although the technology-heavy Nasdaq market posted a sizeable gain despite a profit warning from Internet software maker Netscape Communications.

Stocks drew an early boost from another big gain in the bond market, where the 30-year Treasury fell as low as 5.73 per cent before settling near 5.75 per cent.

The long-bond yield, a key influence on the interest rates companies and consumers pay to borrow money, had never finished a day below 5.79 per cent, a level it hit in 1993.