NEW YORK — A battered stock market recovered from a sharp drop in late trading yesterday but still posted its fourth straight weekly drop.

The Dow, down nearly 170 points in afternoon trading, came back to finish with a gain of 10. But more stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange as investors sa2 more troubling signs about the global economy.

Investors are concerned that European governments will have trouble getting their massive deficits under control. The Labor Department, meanwhile, offered only modest hope of improvement in the jobs market in its closely watched monthly report.

"Clearly we've entered the worry, fear camp," said Rob Lutts, president and chief investment office at Cabot Money Management. "It's a very fragile investor psychology today. It doesn't take much ... to send them running for the hills."