Investors welcomed the latest financial results from large U.S. companies Friday and sent stocks higher in midday trading. The market was on course to recover after slumping a day earlier.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 97 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,074 as of 12:16 p.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 14 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,972. The Nasdaq composite gained 50 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,413.
GLOBAL CONCERNS: Markets were recovering after stumbling Thursday after the downing of a Malaysian Airlines jetliner in Ukraine and Israel’s launch of a ground offensive into Gaza stoked geopolitical uncertainty. The S&P 500 index sank 1.2 percent, its biggest one-day drop since April. All three major stock indexes ended lower for the first time in a week, but remained near record highs and positive for the year.
THE QUOTE: “Clearly the equity market remains remarkably resilient,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “At present the market is looking through the geopolitical concerns, in part because earnings generally have been pretty favorable.”
GOOGLE IT: The Internet giant reported higher quarterly earnings and revenue late Thursday. Google’s revenue rose 22 percent even as advertising rates continued to drop. Although Google still makes most of its money from Internet searches, the company is generating more revenue from other sources such as YouTube and its “Play” store that sells applications for devices running its Android software. Google’s stock added $17.67, or 3 percent, to $598.49.