SHARE prices closed slightly higher yesterday, erasing a loss of more than 160 points on the Dow Jones average in extremely heavy trading.

The Dow Jones gained 9.25 points to finish at 5,358.76, while other indexes were slightly lower. The Nasdaq composite lost 6.70 after being as much as 50 points lower to close at 1,053.49.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was a record 686 million shares, with 701 issues higher, 1,875 lower, and 664 unchanged.

The Dow gained as much as 46 points in early trading following losses of 161 points on Monday

But within half an hour, the Dow slumped more than 164 points to trade as low as 5,182.30 after plunging rapidly on futures related programme selling, dealers said.

The blue chip index then recovered its losses in choppy trading and rose as much as 50 points, triggering trading curbs on the upside.