NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Strength in Hewlett-Packard and Home Depot helped propel the Dow Jones industrial average above 9,000, a level it has not closed above since early July, in Thursday morning stock trading.

Around 10:50 a.m. ET, the Dow stood at 9,024.51, up 67.28. The Nasdaq composite gained 10.21 to 1,419.46. The The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.29 to 958.65.

HP (HPQ: up $0.51 to $15.21, Research, Estimates) said a report shows its share of the printer market grew in the second quarter. Home Depot (HD: Research, Estimates) was up for the third straight day after topping fiscal second-quarter earnings estimates.

Tech stocks were mixed. Software got a boost from news that Salomon Smith Barney upgraded No. 1 software maker Microsoft (MSFT: up $0.98 to $53.26, Research, Estimates) to "outperform" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $59 from $56.

But chip stocks retreated from Wednesday's sharp rally, with Intel (INTC: down $0.22 to $19.37, Research, Estimates), Applied Materials (AMAT: up $0.37 to $16.41, Research, Estimates) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC: down $0.02 to $40.18, Research, Estimates) all lower. Chipmaker Cree (CREE: down $0.93 to $15.98, Research, Estimates) dipped after UBS Warburg downgraded the stock to "reduce" from "hold."

Shares of Ciena (CIEN: down $0.14 to $4.35, Research, Estimates) fell after the fiber-optic equipment maker reported third-quarter revenue that missed analysts' estimates and a per share loss that was narrower than what analysts expected. The company reported a profit in the year earlier period. Looking forward, the company said its fourth-quarter revenue will be flat to slightly improved from the third quarter, which is less than what analysts are expecting.

Amid a broadly positive Dow industrials, financial services company J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: down $0.72 to $26.16, Research, Estimates) was notably weaker. Ratings agency Moody's placed the company's long-term unsecured ratings on review for a potential downgrade. The move follows last week's Standard &Poor's move to put the long and short-term credit ratings of J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch (MER: up $0.66 to $38.36, Research, Estimates) and Morgan Stanley (MWD: up $0.15 to $45.55, Research, Estimates) on negative review

Retailer Barnes & Noble (BKS: down $0.42 to $23.01, Research, Estimates) reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of 2 cents a share, above the breakeven results of a year earlier. It also reduced its forecast for the rest of the current fiscal year.

In the day's economic news, weekly first-time unemployment claims fell to 389,000 last week from a revised 391,000 the prior week,the Labor Department said. Economists were expecting 385,000 new claims, according to Briefing.com.

Treasury prices fell, sending the 10-year note yield up to 4.26 percent from 4.20 percent late Wednesday.

European markets rose at midday, while Asian-Pacific stocks finished higher Thursday. The dollar gained against the yen and euro.

Brent oil futures fell 7 cents to $27.34 a barrel in London, where gold was lower.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancers beat decliners nearly 8-to-5 as 320 million shares traded. On the Nasdaq, winners beat losers 8-to-7 as 557 million shares changed hands.