AROUND THE WORLD'S MARKETS: NEW YORK

TECHNOLOGY STOCKS made gains and blue chips cut their losses in early trading as Wall Street continued to drift a week before the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates.

By midday the Dow Jones was down 60 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 11,056. The Nasdaq composite, heavy with technology stocks, was up 4 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 2,675. "I'm a little bit surprised at the sharp downturn this morning, but of course we've had five strong days in the Dow," said one analyst.