New York ? Buyers cautiously returned to Wall Street Friday, sending stocks higher on bargain-hunting after three days of big losses. But the market’s three main indexes still posted a fourth straight weekly loss.

Analysts said investors were ambivalent about the strength of the economic recovery and third-quarter profits. After disappointing earnings announcements this week from Electronic Data Systems and J.P. Morgan Chase, the market got a boost on a positive outlook from Qualcomm.

“I think what we’re seeing is a tug of war between one camp looking for the economy and corporate earnings to fall significantly further from where we are, and the other camp looking for the economy to expand, albeit on a modest path,” said Kevin Caron, market strategist at Ryan, Beck & Co.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 43.63, or 0.6 percent, to close at 7,986.02. On Thursday, blue chips dropped 230 points to close below 8,000.