Wall Street capped its worst week ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow rocket within a 1,000 point range before closing with a relatively mild loss and the Nasdaq composite index actually end with a modest advance.

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The Dow lost 128 points and finished the day at 8,451, a relatively mild drop after the blue chips fell 2,271 during the previous eight trading days. The Dow had its worst week ever, as did the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Investors have spent much of the past month agonizing over a credit market that remains frozen, posing a threat to the economy. But Friday's gainers included financial stocks, the ones most decimated amid the ongoing banking and credit crisis.

After dipping below the 8,000 mark twice, the Dow climbed back into positive territory and then back down again in the final hour of trading.

The Dow plunged nearly 700 points in the opening minutes of trading, recovered to an advance of more than 100 before turning lower again. The other major indexes fluctuated sharply as well.

Frozen credit markets and a loss of confidence in the world's financial system have caused the Dow to drop 21 percent in just 10 trading days.

G-7 Pledges To Battle Financial Crisis

Finance officials from the world's top economic powers have pledged to take all action necessary to stem the worst financial crisis in more than a half-century.

The officials from the so-called Group of Seven countries issued a five-point plan aimed at unfreezing a credit crisis that has unhinged Wall Street and markets around the globe.

The group pledged to take "decisive action and use all available tools" to battle the crisis and to protect major financial institutions in their countries and to prevent their failure.

President George W. Bush is trying to reassure Americans, saying the government's financial rescue plan is aggressive enough and big enough to work, but will take time to kick in.

He said that high anxiety among both investors and the general public about the economy is making the credit crisis more severe.

Bush went to the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday morning to reassure Americans that the government is doing all it can to cope with the problem. He acknowledged mounting worry among people about their retirement and investment accounts.

"This is an anxious time, but the American people can be confident in our economic future," he said.

Bush said the United States is working "closely with our partners from around the world" to steady the stressed financial markets. He also said that "we're in this together, and we'll come through this together."

Bush cited the government's $700 billion bailout packages as part of the economic solution, saying the plan is aggressive, flexible and "big enough to work."

He warned, however, that the bailout will take time.

Bush is planning to meet with finance officials from the G-7 at the White House on Saturday.

Paulson Endorses Bank Stock Purchase Plan

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the administration will move ahead with a plan to buy stock in financial institutions.

Paulson said Friday the program to purchase stock in financial institutions will be open to a broad array of institutions.

The administration received authority to make direct purchases of stock in banks in the $700 billion financial rescue bill Congress passed last week.