Dow hit by weak earnings, but Google provides tech lift

NEW YORK -- Stocks bounced off earlier lows Friday afternoon, with the Nasdaq composite index and the Standard & Poor's 500 index turning positive at least briefly, boosted by gains in financials and Google, which reported earnings on Thursday that beat Wall Street's expectations.

But the Dow Jones industrial average was still down more than 100 as weak corporate earnings reports stir fears that the recession will be deeper and longer lasting than some investors had predicted.

"I think we're in a period of extreme risk aversion, and the earnings play into that," said Tim Courtney, chief investment officer at Burns Advisory Group. "When you couple companies missing earnings estimates with investor risk aversion, there's no tolerance" for buying.

General Electric's fourth-quarter numbers made investors uneasy. While the 46% drop in earnings met Wall Street's lowered expectations, investors are worried the conglomerate will reduce its dividend. They are also nervous the company could lose its coveted 'AAA' credit rating because of the recession that has crimped lending at GE Capital and hurt its industrial and entertainment businesses. The stock, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, fell 8%.

One of the lone bright spots among earnings reports was Google's ability to beat analysts' estimates as it reported quarterly earnings after the market closed Thursday. Excluding one-time charges, Google earned about $5.10 a share, compared with analysts' expectations for profit of $4.95 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.