NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Gains in retail and telecom helped push the Dow Jones industrial average to a higher close Thursday, while weakness in tech and the day's economic news nearly robbed the Nasdaq composite of its fourth straight session of gains.

Markets see-sawed throughout the session, but managed a late-day push higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 45.53 to 10,289.21 for its third session of gains in four. The Nasdaq composite index added 4.88 to 1,730.44, just barely eking out its fourth session of gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 7.16 to 1,098.23.

After the close of trade, Dell Computer (DELL: up $0.15 to $27.85, Research, Estimates), the largest maker of personal computers, reported first-quarter earnings per share of 17 cents, a penny above forecasts, on stronger revenue. Looking forward, the company said it expects to post second-quarter earnings per share of 18 cents, a penny above forecasts.

"We're seeing some good momentum in the business," Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell told CNNfn's Street Sweep. "The (second) quarter is off to a solid start. We believe we're well positioned to grow market share."

However, on the issue of whether the tech sector as a whole would see a turnaround this year, he was more guarded, saying only that "I think we're going to see improvements."

Wal-Mart (WMT: up $1.58 to $58.35, Research, Estimates), which earlier in the week reported earnings that topped expectations, was among the names that pushed the Dow higher. "As people want to rotate back into retail, the obvious choice is Wal-Mart," said L. Wayne Hood, a retail analyst at Prudential Securities who covers the stock. "There's a bit of a technical bounce as it sustains key support levels. People are also continuing to react to the strong quarter."

In addition, Wal-Mart officials "are looking into getting regulatory approval to buy a bank, which would enable them to have lower transaction fees," said Bill Dreher, a retail analyst at W.R. Hambrecht & Co.

SBC (SBC: up $1.27 to $34.68, Research, Estimates) and the rest of the much-depleted telecom sector also saw some strength after government regulators gave BellSouth (BLS: up $1.74 to $33.50, Research, Estimates) the OK to offer long-distance service in two states, Georgia and Louisiana. Analysts expect that the company will gain similar approval throughout the rest of the country.

"The long-distance thing is boosting the whole sector. It's a group-wide phenomenon," said Richard Klugman, a telecommunications analyst at Jefferies & Co.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners 8-to-7 as almost 1.23 billion shares changed hands. On the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by almost 4-to-3 as 1.62 billion shares traded.

Technology remains prominent on investors' minds. Late Wednesday, IBM (IBM: up $0.95 to $85.45, Research, Estimates)'s CEO told analysts that the computer hardware leader will be taking aggressive steps to strengthen areas such as PCs and hard drives, while beefing up its service offerings. The company also indicated the likelihood of job cuts, although no number was given.

"There's a good tone to the market," said Tim Heekin, head of stock trading at Thomas Weisel Partners. "We're moving towards some key technical levels, particularly with the S&P 500. I think that if we can hold and then break through them, we could go higher."

The drug sector was also making waves in the stock markets.

Biotech ImClone Systems (IMCL: down $1.99 to $13.06, Research, Estimates) posted a sharply lower first-quarter loss, missing expectations on a drop in sales. In addition, Merck of Germany will not assist the company in getting its colon cancer drug Erbitux approved.

Shares of Pfizer (PFE: down $0.67 to $35.82, Research, Estimates) fell after the pharmaceutical company said the Department of Justice has expanded its investigation into the company's pricing for Lipitor, a cholesterol drug, to include 1998 and 2001, in addition to the already announced probe of 1999 and 2000.

On the economic front, a regional business report came in weaker than economists had anticipated. The closely-watched survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia fell to 9.1 in May from 12.3 in the prior month.

Earlier in the day, a report showed weekly jobless claims rose to 418,000 last week from a revised 416,000 the previous week, surprising economists who were expecting the number of Americans filing for new unemployment claims to decline to 405,000.

In addition, housing, a sector of the economy that has held up well of late, showed a pullback. Housing starts fell in April to an annual rate of 1.56 million from a revised 1.64 million in March; economists were expecting a rate of 1.63 million.

"The market is reacting to the day-to-day news, which reflects the continuing uncertainty that an economic recovery is on the way," said Robert Bloom, president of LF Capital. "We see that with the numbers this morning."

Treasury prices rose sharply, cutting the yield on the 10-year note to 5.18 percent.

Weak U.S. markets took their toll on European bourses by the close, drowning out early gains. Asian markets closed mixed. The dollar was little changed versus the euro and a little higher versus the yen. Light crude oil futures dipped 13 cents to $27.08 a barrel in New York.