WALL Street stocks rose modestly yesterday, drifting through another aimless session with few developments to move the market or extend this month's rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.07 points to close at 5,872.92, pulling higher in the final minutes after meandering lower for most of the session.

Advances outnumbered declines by a 5 to 4 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,291 up, 1,029 down and 903 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 406.79 million shares, against 499.85 million in the previous session.

The American Stock Exchange's market value index rose 1.28 to 568.47.