Wall Street Closes Mixed

It was pessimistic going in the early morning, as European stocks fell on anticipation of lower opens for U.S. markets. But then Wall Street got a boost with the announcement of the administration's plan to extend loans to General Motors and Chrysler. That kept them higher for most of the day, though gains were trimmed.

But when it came time to close, the Dow faltered. The Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index managed to close higher, but not the blue-chip indicator. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 25.88, or 0.30 percent, to 8579.11. The S&P 500 was up 2.60, or 0.29 percent, to 887.88. And the Nasdaq industrial average - the only major indicator to not enter negative territory today - rose 11.95, or 0.77 percent, to 1,564.32 .

For the week, the Dow was down 0.59 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.93 percent and the Nasdaq was up 1.53 percent.