Stocks closed higher in New York yesterday after taking in its stride the release of President Bill Clinton's videotaped grand jury testimony and the potentially much more serious collapse of a bank rescue deal in Japan.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 37.59 points - or 0.5% - at 7,933.25, after bailing out of a 184-point loss posted in the first 30 minutes of trading.

The Dow dropped sharply at the opening bell just as Congress released videotapes and volumes of documents of President Clinton's testimony about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

But investors, not seeing much new material in the tapes, came into the market as buyers after a brief retreat.