Dow Up 7 After Late Selling

NEW YORK Wall Street's blue-chip stocks closed higher Thursdaybut failed to hold onto higher levels when a late spurt of sellinghit trading.

Stocks, which have been struggling to recover from recentlosses, were buoyed by overseas rallies, a steady dollar and firmerbond prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 7.83 points higher at3,254.64. Gainers outpaced losers 1,066-675 on the New York StockExchange.

Big Board volume rose to 178.5 million shares from 171.8million on Wednesday.

Volume levels since the big selloffs last Friday and Mondayhave been mostly moderate and traders said they detected littlestrong buying conviction.

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