NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The major U.S. stock indexes took different paths Friday, with a positive pre-announcement out of 3M giving the Dow Jones industrial average a little strength, while weakness stemming from a variety of profit warnings and analyst downgrades pressured the Nasdaq composite.

Both indexes closed lower on the week, with the first five sessions of the second quarter of 2002 showing little positive momentum.

The Dow industrials gained 36.47 to 10,271.64; for the week it lost 113 points, or 1.3 percent, marking its third week in a row of declines. The Nasdaq composite index fell 19.72 to 1,770.03; it was down 75 points, or 4.1 percent, on the week. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 3.61 to 1,122.73; its weekly decline was almost 25 points and 2.1 percent.

Next week, quarterly results are expected from a variety of big names, including diversified conglomerate and Dow component General Electric (GE: Research, Estimates), memory chip maker Rambus (RMBS: Research, Estimates), Web portal Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates), telecommunications gear maker Juniper Networks (JNPR: Research, Estimates) and biotech Genentech (DNA: Research, Estimates).

"We're in a transitional phase as cyclicals that performed well in the first quarter and energy stocks that rose on oil concerns are pausing after their run, and nothing else has stepped up yet," said John Hughes, market analyst at Shields & Co. "It could be tech, but tech hasn't happened yet. There's still nervousness about tech earnings, as well as the Mideast and interest rates, so it leaves us caught in this wishy-washy malaise as the market tries to get its footing."

3M (MMM: up $7.81 to $121.93, Research, Estimates) said late Thursday that first-quarter results will come in much higher than the company's own estimates and Wall Street's expectations due to cost-cutting measures that offset some of the expected decline in sales. Salomon Smith Barney and Credit Suisse First Boston upgraded the diversified manufacturer and Dow component, and raised earnings estimates.

Also helping trade was a report showing a slight rise in unemployment in March, which seemed to comfort investors by implying that a Federal Reserve move to lift interest rates would be delayed.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent in March from 5.5 percent in February, surpassing estimates. Employers added 58,000 jobs, but the February payroll number was revised to a loss of 2,000 from a gain of 66,000. The news was seen by some as indicating that interest rates may remain intact for the time being, as the Federal Reserve is unlikely to boost rates when unemployment is still on the rise.

But tech weakness countered the gains, with names in the data storage and software sectors showing the most weakness following a series of weak pre-announcements and negative analyst commentary.

On a global level, concerns remained about the increased violence in the Middle East. In the latest development, U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni met with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat on Friday, following a U.N. Security Council call for Israeli troops to withdraw from West Bank cities controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

"There's a real wait-and-see attitude about corporate earnings, the Mideast and if there's another accounting scandal," Troy Nickerson, analyst at Robertson Stephens, told CNNfn's Halftime Report. "We're going to trade sideways for a while."

Fears that tensions in the Mideast might drive up oil prices seem to have temporarily abated as light crude oil futures fell 37 cents to $26.21 a barrel in New York.

European stocks closed flat to lower, while Asian markets closed lower on technology losses. The dollar fell versus the yen and was little changed against the euro. Treasurys rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 5.19 percent.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers by almost 3-to-2 as 1.09 billion shares traded. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by more than 9-to-8 as nearly 1.50 billion shares changed hands.

Telecommunications names were lower. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein downgraded Nortel Networks (NT: down $0.49 to $3.75, Research, Estimates) to "hold" from "add" one day after Moody's downgraded the company's debt to "junk" status. WorldCom (WCOM: down $0.24 to $6.26, Research, Estimates) and Lucent Technologies (LU: down $0.06 to $4.53, Research, Estimates) also traded lower.

Aluminum producer Alcoa (AA: up $1.12 to $38.00, Research, Estimates) reported first-quarter earnings in line with estimates but down from the same period a year earlier. The company was the first Dow component to release March-quarter results.

Also on the Dow, IBM (IBM: down $3.59 to $97.25, Research, Estimates) traded lower on rumors that it might pre-announce negative results while Caterpillar (CAT: up $1.95 to $57.36, Research, Estimates) and DuPont (DD: up $0.80 to $46.50, Research, Estimates) added strength.

Genentech (DNA: down $4.29 to $44.70, Research, Estimates) and Xoma (XOMA: down $3.21 to $4.42, Research, Estimates) were both under pressure after suffering a setback in getting their psoriasis drug on the market. A new study showed an inconsistency in current versions of the treatment compared with a previous version, after a new manufacturing process was used. The weakness carried over into other biotech names.

Shares of cable operator Adelphia Communications (ADLAC: up $0.42 to $10.42, Research, Estimates), previously under pressure following news of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of its accounting, bounced back after the company said it is exploring sales of some of its cable assets and that it has hired some big-name brokerage houses as financial advisers.

But the larger trend in stock movement was dictated by a wide range of companies offering pre-announcements about their performance in the just-completed firs quarter of 2002.

Analysts offered some negative notes on network storage product maker McData (MCDT: down $2.88 to $9.67, Research, Estimates) after it cut its first-quarter revenue and earnings forecast, blaming a reduction in orders from its biggest customer.

Stock photograph and image supplier Getty Images (GETY: up $6.28 to $34.68, Research, Estimates) rose sharply after the company said it expects to post a net profit for the first time since 1997. Analysts were expecting a loss. Credit Suisse First Boston raised its price target on the stock following the news.

Shares of Genesis Microchip (GNSS: up $0.07 to $23.07, Research, Estimates), a maker of chips for flat panel displays and digital TVs, rose after the company reaffirmed its fourth-quarter and first-quarter revenue guidance.

The market's attention will turn to the March quarter results that will start trickling in next week -- and flooding in during the two weeks that follow.

"Next week is relatively light, but the following week has a lot of names reporting and nobody wants to buy in front of the numbers," said Robertson Stephens' Nickerson. "It's going to be less about what the individual companies report, but rather the overall tone that will move the market."