Gains were modest however amid ongoing fears about Middle East developments and upcoming corporate earnings. On Friday, Alcoa will be the first of other Dow Jones Industrial Average companies to release first quarter corporate earnings. The Dow industrials ended four straight sessions of decline and closed up 36.88 points or 0.36% at 10235.17. The Nasdaq ended up 5.40 points or 0.30% at 1789.75. The S&P 500 recovered 0.77 point or 0.07% to close at 1126.17.