Stocks opened higher Friday, rebounding from Thursday's steep selloff on concerns that corporate profits are slowing and will not meet expectations for the second half of the year.
At 10 a.m. on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 43.77 at 8,976.75, erasing some of Thursday's 196-point loss that pulled the blue-chip barometer below 9,000 for the first time since July 1.Broad-market indicators also rose in early trading.
Investors bought stocks Friday morning after a four-day selloff. The Dow lost about 400 points - 4.3 percent - this week, and other market indexes also suffered heavy losses.
This week's selloff came after a number of prominent companies - including Dow components Merck, Hewlett-Packard and DuPont - warned of earnings troubles in the second half of the year. Other companies, including Boeing, reported second-quarter results that fell short of expectations.
Many companies cited Asia's financial crisis for the weak results and anticipate that the troubles abroad will continue to cut into profits.
Helping to encourage buying early Friday was news that Japan's ruling party selected Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi as the nominee to succeed Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Investors hope that a new Japanese leader will quickly initiate programs to revive the ailing economy.