Around the World's Markets: New York

US BLUE CHIPS made modest gains yesterday in quiet trading, with the Dow up 12 points to 9916 by 1.30pm New York time.

Internet stocks underpinned the market as traders anticipated a settlement of the anti-trust action against Microsoft by the US authorities, and ING Barings published bullish research on the sector. But computer stocks fell slightly on negative earnings news from IBM and Dell. US Treasuries were boosted by a pounds 7bn bond offering by AT&T.