WALL Street stocks were mostly higher yesterday, led by technology shares, as bonds continued to improve following the Federal Reserve's decision on Tuesday not to raise interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.3 points to close at 5,877.36, having slipped from an early 21 point gain and then recovered from an 18.5 point loss.

Bonds rallied again on the Fed's apparent determination that the economy was slowing enough to keep inflation in check without an increase in the central bank's key lending rates.

But the potential drag of a slowing economy on third quarter profits left some investors nervous about bidding the Dow and other large company indices further into record territory after the powerful surge of recent weeks.

New York Stock Exchange volume totalled 451.7 million shares, against 457.88 million in the previous session.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 9.33 to 1,224.60.