STOCKS pulled back from record heights on modest profit-taking, with shares of companies that provide temporary workers hammered after an earnings warning from Olsten Corp.

"After the feeding frenzy of the past couple of weeks, investors are taking a bit of a breather here," said Mr Charlie Crane, director of research at Spears Benzak Salomon & Farrell.

After setting November's 10th record high on Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 11.55 points to 6,418.47. In the broader market, advancing issues edged declines, 1,198 to 1,195, on heavy volume of about 468.7 million shares.

The Nasdaq composite index lost 6.86 points to 1,258.08 as heavyweights Intel and Microsoft gave up some of their recent strong gains.

The Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks fell 1.20 to 742.75. The American Stock Exchange index rose 0.57 to 587.76.