Wall Street rises at open on earnings lift

There also hopes the Federal Reserve might slow the wind-down of its stimulus

US stocks rose on Friday, with each of the major indexes up more than one per cent, following a batch of solid earnings reports that eased concerns about the impact of weak global demand on US growth and businesses.

The benchmark S&P index is on track for its fourth straight weekly decline, its longest streak in more than three years, and is down about six per cent from its record high amid concerns about the health of the global economy and spread of the Ebola virus.

Investors eyeing corporate earnings for positive trading incentives were rewarded. General Electric shares rose 3.8 per cent to $25.17 after the company reported third-quarter earnings that topped analyst expectations, pushing the S&P industrial sector up 1.8 per cent.

Fellow industrial Honeywell shares gained 4.1 per cent to $89.27 after its quarterly results, to help send the S&P industrials sector up 2.3 per cent.

Energy shares, were up 2.7 per cent as the best performing of the 10 major S&P sectors, boosted by a six percent rise in Schlumberger to $97.12 after the world's largest oilfield services company posted a third-quarter profit that beat estimates.

At 11:11 a.m, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 257.23 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 16,374.47, the S&P 500 gained 30.61 points, or 1.64 per cent, to 1,893.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 68.25 points, or 1.62 per cent, to 4,285.64.

The earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to grow 6.9 per cent in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data through Friday, on revenue growth of 3.8 per cent.

The largest percentage gainer on the S&P 500 was Textron, which rose 11.4 per cent, while the largest percentage decliner was Urban Outfitters, down 13.6 per cent.

The largest percentage gainer on the Nasdaq 100 was Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, up 9.5 per cent, while the largest percentage decliner was Netflix, down 4.9 per cent.

Advancing issues were outnumbering declining ones on the NYSE by 2,416 to 562, for a 4.30-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,734 issues were rising and 823 falling for a 2.11-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 2 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 26 new highs and 17 new lows.