WALL Street stocks closed with their best showing in four sessions, but the tone remained hesitant amid anxieties about whether the US inflation and interest rate outlook will worsen with this week's economic reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.15 points to close at 6,783.02, despite the equivalent of a 22 point drop by Boeing, which slid after a seemingly robust profit report by the aircraft maker.

The Dow started the session with a 36 point loss, but quickly turned higher with most other broad market measures.

Most of the day's buying, however, was focused on blue chip and other large company shares, underscoring the uncertainty that has prevailed in the market's recent efforts to rebound.

Advances outnumbered declines by an 11 to 9 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,368 up, 1,118 down and 835 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 402.41 million shares, against 414.32 million in the previous session.