Stocks Eke Out Small Gains

(Updated with recent index values and recent stock quotes.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks finished just higher on an uneventful day of trading Friday, a day the nation's unemployment rate reached a 26-year high, oil prices slumped and gold surged.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 17.5 points, or 0.2%, at 10,023.4. The S&P 500 added 2.7 points, or 0.3%, at 1069.3, while the Nasdaq gained 7.1 points, or 0.3%, at 2112.4.

For the week, both the Dow and the S&P gained 3.2% each, while the Nasdaq put on 3.3%.

"That 10.2% unemployment rate is going to catch everyone's attention in tomorrow's papers," says Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners. "The fact that we're not down another couple hundred points, I'd say, all and all, it's been a pretty good day."

After the closing bell, Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B) said net income tripled to $3.24 billion, or $2,087 per Class A share, from a year earlier, as operating earnings topped forecasts and revenues climbed just over 7%.

Elsewhere in the afternoon, the Federal Reserve said that the nation's consumer credit debt declined by $14.8 billion in September. Economists anticipated a $10 billion fall.

As equities finished the day just above break-even, oil futures fell $2.19 to settle at $77.43 a barrel.

"On a day like today, it has to go back to its fundamentals," says Darin Newsom, senior commodities analyst at Telvent DTN, about the crude selloff. "A lot of people are out of work. We've known that, but today's numbers seem to confirm it. It makes it more difficult for that market to rally. With the bearish underlyings in the market, it doesn't have anything to come back down to."

Oil sector stocks were some of the bigger decliners of the day. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index fell 0.6%, while the Amex Oil Index lost 0.7%.

Sunoco(SUN) shares fell just over 9% after the refiner reported a $312 million loss.

Gold rallied to a new high above $1,100 an ounce.