World Markets

New York: The Mexican crisis held back shares and by early afternoon the Dow Jones Average was down 9.09 points at 3,852.94.

Tokyo: Profit-taking by foreign investors lowered the Nikkei 225 by 138.46 at 19,410.01.

Hong Kong: The Hang Seng index edged up 25.3 to 7,418.05 in cautious trade.

Sydney: The All Ordinaries index gained 2.6 to 1,861.9.

Frankfurt: A tentative return by small investors boosted the DAX index 10.22 at 2,071.27.

Zurich: The SMI index firmed 3.5 points at 2,600.5.

Milan: Ahead of the announcement of a new prime minister, the Mibtel index rose two points to 10,005.

Madrid: Decreasing currency market tensions lifted the IBEX-35 5.37 at 2,963.07.

Paris: The CAC-40 index shed 5.07 at 1,844.06, its fourth loss in succession.

London: Report, page 30.