NEW YORK (AP) – A spate of bargain-hunting boosted a sluggish market in late trading Thursday, pulling the Dow Jones industrial average back from below the 10,000 mark. But the buying seemed to lack conviction as investors remained worried about the economy’s health.

Many companies have reported strong earnings for the second quarter, indicating business conditions are good, but investors have focused instead on lower forecasts and concern about whether future earnings can support current share prices.

Disappointing results from Microsoft Corp. after the bell only added to the market’s gloom.

Some analysts have attributed the current pattern of sideways trading to summer doldrums. But others warn that selling pressure is likely to increase if the downward trend continues.

“The fear of earnings not holding up in the second half of the year has put the bears in full control, and the market is basically testing the trading ranges,” said Peter Cardillo, chief strategist with S.W. Bach & Co. “Any close under the 10,000 level (on the Dow) will obviously indicate a psychological breakdown, and could induce more selling.”

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day higher, up 4.20, or 0.04 percent, at 10,050.33 after falling as low as 9,946.88. The Dow last closed below 10,000 on May 24.

The broader gauges also finished higher after spending much of the session in negative range. The Nasdaq composite index gained 14.69, or 0.8 percent, to 1,889.06, ahead of Microsoft’s much-anticipated results. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 2.96, or 0.3 percent, to 1,096.84.

From a technical standpoint, the S&P 500 hit a milestone on Wednesday, when it fell below its 200-day moving average for the first time since March 2003. For professional investors, that was a caution flag, suggesting the upward trend that began more than a year ago might not be sustainable.

Helping the bears’ case, a closely watched gauge of future economic activity declined last month for the first time since March 2003, falling short of analysts’ expectations. The Conference Board said its Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators dropped 0.2 percent in June, to 116.2, following three months of gains. Analysts had expected the index to remain flat.

The combination of technical signals and less-than-stellar economic news, along with gloomy corporate outlooks, created a negative feeling on Wall Street, although buyers emerged in the final hour of trading. With no real catalyst in sight to push the equity markets higher, many analysts believe there are more down days ahead.

“I wouldn’t expect we’re going to see huge moves to the upside until we get the election behind us,” said Thomas F. Lydon Jr., president of Global Trends Investments in Newport Beach, Calif. “We’re below the 200-day average on the S&P 500, we’re seeing some big companies have disappointing earnings, we’re going into these summer doldrums … It really doesn’t make the average investor feel like they want to push more money into the market. They’re just making the choice that I’m going to sit this one out for a while.”‘

Microsoft, which announced plans late Tuesday to share its massive cash horde with investors through a dividend and stock buyback program, surged almost 3 percent over the last two days to close at $29. But the software bellwether missed per-share estimates by a penny and lost those gains in after-hours trading Thursday.

Eli Lilly & Co. reported earnings in line with expectations, excluding charges, but shed 54 cents to $64.74 because of a drop in net income and a lower forecast for the quarter and the year.

McDonald’s Corp. was down 9 cents at $27.57, despite beating estimates on strong results from salads, late-night hours and other recent initiatives that helped it record a fourth-straight quarter of double-digit sales growth.

Adolph Coors Co. was down $2.33 at $72.40 following the official announcement of its planned merger with Canadian brewer Molson Inc., which values both companies at $3 billion and would create the world’s fifth-largest beer company. A former Molson executive could cause a hitch, however – The Wall Street Journal reported that Ian Molson is expected to make a counter offer to acquire the company for as much as $4 billion.

Decliners outnumbered advancing issues by more than 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. Preliminary volume came to 1.67 billion shares, compared with 1.68 billion traded on Wednesday. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, was down 2.05, or 0.4 percent, at 546.52.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average finished 1.3 percent lower Thursday. In Europe, France’s CAC-40 fell 1.8 percent, Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.6 percent and Germany’s DAX index declined 2 percent.