US stocks rose on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track to snap a 2-day drop, after better-than-expected results from Microsoft and General Electric Co propelled what has been a solid earnings season to date.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 80.45 points, or 0.62%, at 13,044.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 6.37 points, or 0.46%, at 1,383.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index put on 17.72 points, or 0.59%, at 3,025.28.
McDonald's Corp climbed 1.8% to $96.97 as the top boost to the Dow after the world's biggest fast-food chain reported higher quarterly profit, paced by strong US sales.
Microsoft Corp gained 4.6% to $32.43 after profit beat expectations late Thursday as personal computer sales held up better than expected.
GE rose 1.2% to $19.35 as the largest US conglomerate's first-quarter profit topped estimates, helped by strong sales of jet engines and energy equipment and profit growth at its finance arm.
"Everyone is taking a peek at GE, Microsoft and even McDonald's earnings a little bit. Everything is coming in strong, so barring any fears of what is going to happen in Europe, we could probably see a strong day today," said Michael Gault, senior portfolio strategist at WeiserMazars Wealth Advisory in New York.
"We are seeing this constant struggle, and we are at the same point as the last two years come the spring, where you see earnings continue to be positive, but some of the macroeconomic pressures really fighting back what corporate earnings are doing and indicating in terms of the status of the recovery."
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"GE's numbers especially because it is a bellwether for the industrials and it's global. They beat on revenues, which they haven't really been able to do in a long time, and that really bodes well for industrials in particular."
Industrial conglomerate Honeywell International Inc <HON.N> reported higher quarterly results and raised its earnings forecast for the full year. The stock was up 3.6 pct to $60.09 premarket.
Kimberly-Clark Corp posted higher quarterly profit as the maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers trimmed costs to deal with US weakness. Shares gained 1.2% to $76.15.
Air conditioner maker Ingersoll Rand Plc <IR.N> posted profit topped the Wall Street view early Friday and forecast full-year profit within Wall Street estimates. Still, shares slipped 0.3% to $40.26 as it forecast a soft US housing market.
Oilfield services company Schlumberger NV's profit rose on improved deepwater activity and global exploration in several regions. Shares climbed 5.1% to $73.37. The PHLX oil service sector index gained 1.5%.
SanDisk Corp slumped 11.7% to $35.73 after the chipmaker said the glut in the supply of memory chips will hurt prices for the rest of the year, sounding its second revenue warning in as many quarters. The PHLX semiconductor index lost 1.2%.