GE brings buyers back to market

NEW YORK — Wall Street rebounded Friday as better-than-expected earnings from General Electric Co. brought buyers back to the market, but profit warnings from a number of other companies made for a largely subdued session. The major indexes suffered their second straight weekly loss.

Stocks have fallen recently on mixed economic news and anxiety over second-quarter results, which companies will be reporting over the next three weeks. With so much uncertainty, investors have been wary of making commitments, but the good news from GE restored some confidence.

“We’ve had a pretty tough week, with the Nasdaq down three and a half percent in just three days,” said Todd Clark, head of listed equity trading at Wells Fargo Securities. “Obviously GE helped (today) … but it’s very tentative. I couldn’t tell you that demand for equities is strong. I just think some of the selling pressure has abated.”

At the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average had gained 41.66, or 0.4 percent, to 10,213.22, after posting declines in four of the last five sessions.