NEW YORK — Falling energy prices gave stocks a modest lift yesterday as Wall Street set aside worries about interest rates and a weak forecast from Intel Corp. But the gains weren't enough to help the major indexes, which ended the week with losses.

Stocks zigzagged through most of yesterday's session, capping off a week of jittery trading as investors scoured for any news that might revive a year-end rally after a two-week break. Many are wishing for a solid holiday shopping season with cheaper gasoline prices contributing to improving consumer confidence.

The University of Michigan reinforced those hopes when it said its consumer sentiment index for December picked up 7.1 points to 88.7, topping economists' estimates for a reading of 85.

Advancing issues led decliners by 18-to-13 on the New York Stock Exchange, where final consolidated volume of 1.92 billion shares trailed the 2.24 billion shares traded on Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.55, or 0.52 percent, to 688.77.

For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.91 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 0.45 percent and the Nasdaq was down 0.73 percent.

Bond prices fell yesterday. The dollar was lower against other major currencies in European trading, while gold prices lingered near recent highs.

Oil and gas prices retreated after a week of sharp gains as a snowstorm blew through the Northeast and Midwest. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, a barrel of light crude lost $1.27 to $59.39.