Around the World's Markets: New York

WALL STREET took a breather despite a batch of strong earnings, as investors cashed in profits following the market's recent surge into record territory. By midday, the Dow Jones was down 39 points at 11,170, backpedalling from Friday's record close.

After the initial bang of upbeat earnings from Citigroup and JP Morgan, brokers were anxiously watching Microsoft and IBM, which reported their results after yesterday's close.