NEW YORK - Wall Street ended an intensely volatile week with another sell-off Friday while credit markets remained strained after enthusiasm over the government's $700 billion financial rescue plan gave way to worries about obstacles still facing the economy. The Dow Jones industrials fell 157 points, and all the major indexes finished the week with big losses.

As lawmakers voted on the plan, which President Bush quickly signed into law, the Dow advanced more than 300 points. After it passed, the blue chips moved in and out of positive territory before ending down.

Investors had been anxious for resolution on the government's plan to buy up bad assets from banks and other institutions to shore up the financial industry and help resuscitate credit markets. But Wall Street has come to realize passage of the plan is not a quick fix.

Friday's report on the nation's job market gave investors more grim news: Employers slashed 159,000 jobs in September, the worst drop in five years.

"Once you get over one hurdle, you start looking at the next hurdle, and the next one is the weakness in the U.S.," said John Davidson, president of PartnerRe Asset Management in Greenwich, Conn., which invests more than $12 billion. "There's doubt that we'll avoid a recession."

Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Investments, said that although Congress passing a rescue bill will help Wall Street, the broader effects of the paralysis in the credit markets has yet to emerge.

"It's fairly reasonable to assume that this should help unfreeze the credit markets, but what we don't know is what's happened so far," he said. "How much of a dent has it put into the economy?"

The credit markets indicated higher demand for safety. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, the safest type of investment, fell to 0.49 percent from 0.70 percent Thursday. Yields have remained low recently because investors are eager to safeguard their money.

The Dow fell 157.47, or 1.50 percent, to 10,325.38. Broader stock indicators also ended lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 15.05, or 1.35 percent, to 1,099.23, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 29.33, or 1.48 percent, to 1,947.39.

For the week, the Dow lost 7.34 percent, the S&P 500 fell 10.8 percent, and the Nasdaq declined 9.38 percent. Light, sweet crude fell 9 cents to settle at $93.88 in New York.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.94 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 2.26 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 2.41 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 2.96 percent.

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