* GE Q4 profit, revenue top estimates
* Bank of America posts loss, shares fall
* Dow up 0.4 pct, S&P up 0.4 pct, Nasdaq up 0.1 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to late morning, changes byline)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained on Friday
as General Electric Co's
But Google
Tempering some of the earnings optimism were results from
Bank of America Corp
Shares of General Electric Co
GE reported stronger-than-expected earnings, helped by the recovery of its finance arm and a rise in revenue at its industrial units, including a sharp pickup in sales of locomotives. For details, see [ID:nN21199037]
"That's just another sign of an improving economic situation, and improving corporate profits in America, as well as worldwide," said Bryant Evans, investment adivsor and portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management, in Champaign, Illinois.
Evans said stocks were also benefitting from the recent price declines, which have attracted more buyers.
"There may be a certain kind of buying on the dips going on," he said.
The S&P 500 is up 9 percent since the start of December, but the index lost more than 1 percent over the past two days. Many technical and other analysts see the up trend continuing through the first half of the year.
Google Inc
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 50.55 points, or 0.43 percent, at 11,873.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 5.42 points, or 0.42 percent, at 1,285.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 2.58 points, or 0.10 percent, at 2,706.87.
Bank of America shares fell 1.1 percent to $14.38 after the largest U.S. bank by assets reported a second straight quarterly loss, driven by a $2 billion write-down in its mortgage business. [ID:nN20144514]
The results follow disappointing results earlier this week
from Goldman Sachs