Traders work on the floor Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average finished April with a 7.4 percent gain, its best month since 2002.

New York ? Chrysler’s bankruptcy put only a small dent in Wall Street’s rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave up early gains and ended about 17 points lower on Thursday after President Barack Obama confirmed that Chrysler LLC will be going through a bankruptcy reorganization.

The announcement was not surprising to investors, though, and the Dow capped the month of April with a robust gain of 7.4 percent.

“We’ve had an astoundingly powerful rally in the face of what’s been some pretty serious roadblocks,” said Jack A. Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank, pointing to the swine flu, the government’s stress testing of banks, and now, a U.S. automaker bankruptcy.

Wall Street has been growing more confident that the nation’s economy, while not yet healthy, is nearing a bottom. The Dow is up 25 percent from its 12-year low in early March.

That optimism was stoked by calming words about the economy from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, and a government report Thursday showing a decline in last week’s jobless claims.

About nine stocks rose for every seven that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.74 billion shares.

The Dow’s biggest loser on Thursday was JPMorgan Chase & Co., a Chrysler bond holder. General Motors Corp., another troubled automaker and a Dow component, finished higher despite the Chrysler news.

Another Dow component that lost ground Thursday was Exxon Mobil Corp. The oil company’s first-quarter profit fell 58 percent from a year ago to the lowest level in more than five years.

The Fed said Wednesday the pace of the economy’s contraction appears to be slowing.

Chicago Purchasing Managers’ index jumped to 40.1 in April from 31.4 in March.

The index is considered a precursor to the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index, which is due today.