Wall Street was on the rebound at midday on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.52 percent to 13,743.45, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.29 percent higher to 2,786.34 and the S&P 500 added 0.78 percent to 1,526.26.
The Nasdaq was helped by Microsoft’s (NAS: MSFT) quarterly report, which was released late Thursday.
Microsoft added 9.2 percent to $34.93 after it reported that profits were up 23 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter.
Sales were up 27 percent over the same period last year on success with Windows, Office, and its new “Halo 3” computer game.
The oil sector saw gains as crude oil prices continued in record territory.
Oilfield services group Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) added 1.7 percent to $99.77, while Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) was up 2.9 percent to $71.05.
In the financial services sector, Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) added 17.1 percent to $15.29 even though it had losses of over $1 billion in the third quarter as it said it would cut jobs and return to profit in the fourth quarter.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675) gained 4.5 percent to $63.65 on reports that it’s chief executive might soon be replaced.
There are rumors that CEO Stan O’Neal was in talks about a merger with Wachovia (NYSE: WB) that he did not reveal to the board of directors.