Blue-chip industrial stocks once again stole the spotlight from flashier technology shares in New York yesterday, pushing higher as investors shied away from the slumping Internet sector.

Yahoo! led a decline in Internet stocks. Shares of the Internet search engine fell steeply a day after the company posted a better-than-expected profit report. Yahoo! said it earned 19 cents per share in the fourth quarter, above Wall Street's prediction of 15 cents per share.

America Online fell as investors continued to worry about the company's growth potential once it merges with Time Warner. AOL shares have fallen 19% since the company announced its bold move to acquire the more traditional media company.

Microsoft also fell. Just before the close of Wall Street's regular session, it was reported that US government lawyers involved in Microsoft's monopoly case want the company to break itself into three parts to dilute its competitive advantage.