Around the World's Markets: New York

BLUE CHIPS sank as profit taking set in after three record-breaking sessions this week. The Dow average was down 53 points to 10,144 in the early afternoon. "It is Friday, so maybe they are cashing in," said Larry Wachtel at Prudential Securities.

Analysts said stocks received an early boost from news that US wholesale prices rose by just 0.2 per cent in March despite higher oil prices. But this was not sufficient to quell the bout of profit taking.