Tech Stocks Bounce Back

Updated from 4:20 p.m. EDT

Tech stocks rebounded and led the broader market higher Friday as traders put the previous day's losses behind them.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 33.48 points, or 1.21%, to 2805.68, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 77.96 points, or 0.56%, to 14,093.08. The S&P 500 added 7.39 points, or 0.48%, to end at 1561.80.

"There was a little of everything for the bulls today, between good economic numbers, M&A coming back into the picture, and corporate earnings," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist with Avalon Partners. "This has increased momentum buying."

Cardillo warned, though, that "the real earnings onslaught will hit next week and will be more of a focus, although it could end up cutting into the enthusiasm due to disappointments."

Breadth was decidedly positive to end the week. On the New York Stock Exchange 2.72 billion shares changed hands, as advancers topped decliners by a 5-to-3 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 1.96 billion shares, with winners outpacing nearly 3 to 2.

Indices notched their fifth winning week in a row. The Dow tacked on 0.2%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, and the Nasdaq ended up 0.9% for the week.

Last time out, blue-chip averages hit new record intraday levels before an unraveling in tech stocks dashed gains. The main culprits included Baidu.com (BIDU Quote), Research In Motion (RIMM Quote), SanDisk (SNDK Quote) and Amazon.com (AMZN Quote), all of which fell at least 5% Thursday.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended sharply lower by 39.41 points, or 1.4%, to 2772.20. The Dow swung in a range of more than 200 points but ultimately fell 63.57 points, or 0.45%, to 14,015.12.

McDonald's (MCD Quote) helped start the new session on a positive note after projecting third-quarter earnings above analysts' expectation.

The fast-food restaurant chain now expects a profit of 83 cents a share on a continuing operations basis, ahead of Wall Street's 77-cent estimate. Shares advanced 77 cents, or 1.4%, to $57.02.

Fellow Dow component General Electric (GE Quote) closed lower after the industrial giant reported its third-quarter earnings. On a continuing operations basis, GE recorded a profit of 50 cents a share, matching estimates. The company also reiterated its full-year guidance. Still, GE was off 57 cents, or 1.4%, to finish at $41.03.