Stocks ended higher yesterday, but pared big initial gains, as investors braced for the earnings of two technology giants, Dell and Hewlett- Packard due after the close.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 22.14 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 9,297.03 after soaring more than 100 points early in the day amid strength in Treasury bonds and the dollar.

In the broader market, declining issues led advances by thin margin on active volume of 650 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was off 7.96 points at 2,313.93.

Analysts said stocks were bolstered the dollar's run-up to a two-month high against the Japanese yen after Japan moved to cut long-term interest rates and a senior Japanese Finance Ministry official said a weaker yen was acceptable.

The bond market also shot higher, with the US Treasury's key 30-year issue about a full point, which lowered the yield down to 5.36 per cent from 5.43 per cent on Friday.