US stocks bounced a little higher on a recovery in technology shares following the previous session’s sharp selloff and amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will not change interest rates at its last policy-setting meeting of the year

A POWERFUL stock market rally held its own yesterday afternoon, with buyers jumping in on a strong profit report from General Electric and a brokerage’s support of IBM, pushing stocks toward their first up week in seven.

US stocks painted a mixed picture at midday yesterday as the broader market appeared to absorb the shock of a weak manufacturing report, while the Nasdaq floundered despite upbeat news from Dell and Sun Microsystems.

US TECH stocks advanced at midday yesterday as strength in software, chips and telecom gave a lift to the Nasdaq. But the Dow Jones industrial average swung to both sides of the break-even point.

US stock markets tumbled at mid-session yesterday as a weak dollar weighed on financial companies, with an economic address by President Bush doing nothing to stem the decline.