NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A solid quarterly report from conglomerate General Electric and a brokerage upgrade of computer hardware maker IBM boosted stocks early Friday, extending the previous session's sharp rally.

Around 9:35 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq composite (up 22.67 to 1186.04, Charts), the Dow Jones industrial average (up 130.18 to 7664.13, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (up 13.70 to 817.62, Charts) all rallied.

Conglomerate General Electric (GE: up $1.09 to $23.69, Research, Estimates), a Dow component, reported third-quarter earnings per share of 41 cents, in line with estimates, and better than the 33 cents it earned one year earlier. Looking forward, the company also said that it will meet current full-year profit estimates.

This was particularly supportive to a market rally as brokerages such as Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch had reduced estimates and ratings on the company earlier in the week, casting doubt on GE's financial health.

Shares of another Dow component, computer hardware leader IBM (IBM: up $4.22 to $61.80, Research, Estimates) rallied as well, after Lehman Bros. raised its rating to "overweight" from "equal weight," saying that it thinks business spending on information technology should pick up a little in 2003 and that IBM is on track to meet its third-quarter estimates.

Also adding support to market action is news that the Senate has joined the House of Representatives in giving President Bush the power to launch a military attack on Iraq. The Bush administration has said that it will not necessarily take such action, but wanted to send the message that the United States is speaking with "one voice."

Concern about the threat of Iraq and what action the United States might take has weighed on U.S. stocks for the last two months.

Despite the positive news, a slowdown in retail sales remains a concern. September retail sales declined 1.2 percent compared with a forecast for a 1.1 percent drop. Excluding autos, sales gained 0.1 percent, in line with estimates. A number of chain stores reported disappointing monthly results during the previous session.

European markets rose at midday, while Asian-Pacific stocks ended higher Friday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 1 percent.

Treasury prices fell, pushing the 10-year note yield up to 3.72 percent. The dollar gained against the yen, but weakened versus the euro.

Brent oil futures rose 22 cents to $27.79 a barrel in London. Gold was slightly higher.