WALL Street stocks closed with modest losses yesterday after recovering from a volatile morning when blue-chip shares shot deeper into record territory and suddenly plunged on a wave of profit-taking.

The Dow Jones industrial average nearly extended November's surprisingly resilient rally with another late comeback, but trailed lower into the finish. In the morning it see sawed from an early 42-point gain to a 50-point loss before steadying near midday.

Declines outnumbered advances by nearly a six to five margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,155 up, 1,373 down and 822 unchanged. The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index fell 1.07 to 755.96, and the NYSE's composite index fell 0.88 to 397.98. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.83 to 1,281.20, and the American Stock Exchange's market value index rose 0.17 to 588.33.