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Shares of Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, rose 2 percent. The S&P retail index climbed about 5 percent.
A drop in oil prices to three-year lows meant more savings at the gas pump for consumers, which Wal-Mart cited in its latest sales performance.
"The drop in oil prices is a huge positive," said Cleveland Rueckert, market analyst at Birinyi Associates Inc in Stamford, Connecticut. "It takes a lot of pressure off people's pockets."
Economic worry has U.S. stocks stuck broadly in a range of the lows going back about 11 years ago, and the benchmark S&P 500 is down 40 percent so far this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 22.22 points, or 0.26 percent, to 8,569.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.79 points, or 0.09 percent, to 869.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.18 points, or 0.01 percent, to 1,492.20.
In a scramble to contain the fast-spreading economic malaise, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and Sweden all cut rates on Thursday to stimulate business activity. The British central bank cut interest rates by a full percentage point.
Wal-Mart's gain was overshadowed by other corporate news, including a deluge of job cuts that signaled the recession is worsening.
Shares of Merck, also a Dow component, fell nearly 2 percent to $25.98 after the drugmaker gave a 2009 financial outlook below Wall Street's estimates..
Shares of phone company AT&T fell 1.4 percent to $28.66 after it announced plans to eliminate 12,000 jobs and cut its capital spending budget.
Government data showed factory orders plunged for a third straight month in October. For details, see.
Merck's outlook undercut the belief that big pharmaceutical companies can more easily withstand a downturns.
Investors also fretted about another round of congressional hearings on the U.S. auto industry rescue.
Executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are back on Capitol Hill to make fresh pleas for billions in government aid to avert a possible bankruptcy.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said if Congress is going to act on auto aid, "It's going to require some significant effort over the next few days."
GM shares fell 2.9 percent to $4.76 on the New York Stock Exchange.
But shares of Ford edged up 2.8 percent to $2.93 after Bloomberg News, citing people with knowledge of the plan, reported that the automaker was seeking to sell its Volvo car business for as much as $6 billion and is using JPMorgan as an adviser.
On Nasdaq, shares of Amazon.com Inc extended a surge on expectations online industry sales at the start of the holiday shopping season might have been stronger-than-expected. The stock rose 9.3 percent to $49.40.
But shares of Intel Corp fell 2.4 percent to $13.32 after rival chip maker Advanced Micro Devices warned on its revenue outlook. U.S. crude was down 82 cents at $45.95 a barrel.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
((Ellis.Mnyandu@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6085; Reuters Messaging:ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net)) (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News: http://topnews.reuters.com)
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