The Dow still ended lower for the week, logging a fourth straight weekly decline.
Despite a couple of downbeat days, the benchmark S&P 500 is closing in on its second straight weekly gain.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits did rise by 16,000 last week, the second straight weekly increase.
Banks faltered at the end of a solid week, after a Federal Reserve facility designed to revive the securitization market appeared to draw tepid interest, and U.S. stocks stumbled into the finish but still managed to lock in its second straight weekly gain.
BP shares are heading toward their second straight weekly gain on news of progress on stopping the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the AP notes.
US crude hit fresh six-and-a-half year lows near $40 a barrel as it headed for its eighth straight weekly decline, the longest weekly losing streak since 1986.
Strong third-quarter results from technology companies drove investors into stocks on Friday, giving the market its third straight weekly gain.
That was its third straight weekly loss.
Crude oil prices hovered near $50 per barrel Tuesday ahead of key weekly U.S. petroleum inventory data, which traders expect to show a rise in distillate stocks for a second straight week.
