US stocks join Euro markets in rallying higher

New York - US stocks rose in early trade on Friday as the rally that began mid-day on Thursday picked up momentum following strong trading in Europe and some solid earnings reports at home.

About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16 309.95, up 1.19%.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.20% to 1 885.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.28% to 4 271.23.

World equity markets have been on edge all week amid worries over the European economy and the Ebola virus. But stocks steadied somewhat mid-session Thursday. On Friday, equity markets in Britain, France and Germany all rose at least one percent.

Thursday's performance suggests the sell-off "is at, or near, an exhaustion point," said Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.

Dow member General Electric jumped 3.6% as it reported a 10.8% increase in third-quarter earnings to $3.5bn on strong performance in its aviation and oil and gas divisions. Operating profits bested analyst expectations.

Morgan Stanley gained 3.2% as third-quarter profits nearly doubled to $1.7bn behind strong results in asset management and trading.

Google was unchanged as net income for the third quarter fell five percent to $2.8bn and missed analyst forecasts. Analysts rued weak online ad revenues.

Fertilizer company CF Industries dropped 3.2% after it called off merger talks with Norway's Yara International. CF chief executive Tony Will said the two sides had identified synergies, but couldn't reach agreement on terms for a deal.

Oil-services company Schlumberger bolted 7.4% higher behind strong activity in North America. The company expressed confidence that the energy market remained "relatively well-balanced" despite recent forecasts for lower demand growth in petroleum.

The results lifted other oil services companies, including Weatherford International +4.6% and Halliburton +5.3%.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.20% from 2.15% on Thursday, while the 30-year rose to 2.97% from 2.94%. Bond yields and prices move inversely.