NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Blue chips gained Tuesday and the broader market was little changed, as investors took in stride a drop in crude oil prices and Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's comments that the central bank could raise rates faster than had been anticipated.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 41.44 to 10432.52, Charts) gained 0.4 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.76 to 1142.18, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (up 2.91 to 2023.53, Charts) closed just above breakeven.

All three indexes had been weaker in the morning, in a knee-jerk reaction to Greenspan's comments, but recovered some in the afternoon.

A substantial drop in crude oil prices helped support the market's stabilization, but failed to spark the rally it might have a few weeks ago, when market action and oil prices were more directly intertwined.

"Over the last few days, we've seen oil prices come back, and the market was looking for that to happen, especially since that has been a tax on the consumer and on business," said Sarat Sethi, portfolio manager at Douglas C. Lane & Associates.

As for the muted reaction to Greenspan's comments this morning, he said that the market has already built in a rise in rates, it's just a matter of when and how much.

"I think it's going to be a quiet week heading into the long weekend," Sethi added. "Through the summer, people are going to be focusing on the next earnings period, monetary policy, and if we are going to see more strong economic growth, as well as payrolls."

Wednesday brings the April report on wholesale inventories. Due shortly after the open, inventories are thought to have risen 0.5 percent after rising 0.6 percent in March.

U.S. financial markets will be closed Friday in observance of the national day of mourning for former president Ronald Reagan, who died Saturday.

In prepared comments delivered via video link to the International Monetary Conference in London, Fed chair Greenspan said the central bank is prepared to alter rates at whatever pace necessary to maintain stability. (For more details, click here.)

"Greenspan's comments are obviously a big turnaround from what he said last year," said Peter Green, a technical market analyst at MKM Partners. "But the bond market is usually ahead of the Fed about interest rates, and it has priced in a rise."

Greenspan is also due to speak Thursday at his Senate confirmation hearing. While his comments this week are not expected to differ much from other recent comments, they will be scrutinized particularly closely for hints about what the Fed may do at the conclusion of the June 29-30 meeting.

However, market participants have likely already factored in a rise in the overnight bank lending rate. Currently, the Fed Funds futures contract is pricing in a 100 percent chance of the Fed raising rates by a quarter-percentage point at the meeting.

Crude oil prices had risen in the early morning following news of a strike in Nigeria and more disruptions to Iraqi oil exports, but the pressure eased as the session wore on, and prices dipped.

Adding to the pullback was the midday release of the monthly report from the U.S. Energy Department, which said that the price of gas at the pump will be slightly lower in the summer months than had been previously forecast, barring an oil output disruption.

NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures closed down $1.51 to $37.15 a barrel.

Oil prices had been closely tied to stock market performance over the last month with investors worrying that if oil prices keep climbing, that would impact consumer spending, which has fueled the economic recovery. But in the last week, investors had seemed to move beyond the threat of higher oil prices. As such, the retreat Monday did little to spark new stock gains.

Dow component Alcoa (AA: up $0.28 to $31.60, Research, Estimates) edged higher after Bear Stearns upgraded it to "outperform" from "peer perform."

The Dow's tech components also gained, led by IBM and Hewlett-Packard, which both gained 1.6 percent.

Among other stock movers, shares of Texas Instruments (TXN: down $0.19 to $26.04, Research, Estimates) inched lower after the chipmaker issued a mid-quarter update late Monday that was bullish -- but perhaps not as bullish as some analysts hoped. The company narrowed its earnings forecast to the higher end of its previous range. Analysts may have been hoping the company would raise the range.

Alliance Gaming (AGI: down $5.24 to $16.15, Research, Estimates) plunged 24.5 percent in unusually active New York Stock Exchange trading after the slot machine maker warned that fiscal 2004 and 2005 earnings would miss current expectations, due to lower revenue from some games and increased competition.

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in. Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions. Manage alerts | What is this?

TiVo (TIVO: down $1.09 to $6.41, Research, Estimates) shares fell 14.5 percent in regular trade on speculation that DirecTV has sold its stake in the company, and in response to a brokerage downgrade. Adams, Harkness & Hill downgraded the company to "market perform" from "buy." After the close Tuesday, DirecTV confirmed that it had sold its equity stake in TiVo.

Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO: down $1.62 to $28.65, Research, Estimates) shares lost 5.3 percent after the video game publisher reported a steeper-than-expected loss, and cut its forecast for the quarter and the year due to weak game sales and changes to its release schedule.

Homebuilders were weaker following a negative forecast from Dominion Homes (DHOM: down $4.50 to $24.83, Research, Estimates) late Monday. The company reported April and May unit sales that were down 15 percent from a year ago and warned that quarterly home sales would dip from a year ago by a significant amount, due to the rising interest rate environment. Dominion shares lost 15.3 percent.

Market breadth was negative and volume was light. Losers beat winners by eight to seven on the New York Stock Exchange and by nine to seven on the Nasdaq. On the NYSE, 1.18 billion shares changed hands, and on the Nasdaq, volume stood at 1.46 billion shares.

Treasury prices fell modestly, recovering from steeper lows in the morning. The 10-year note yield was at 4.76 percent, unchanged from late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The dollar gained versus the yen and euro.