NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks pulled off a late day comeback Friday, turning around a session that saw tech mostly in the red and which led the Nasdaq to post its highest one week percentage gain in over three years.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 46.51 to 11,381.47, Charts) and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 4.82 to 1,302.30, Charts) index both gained about 0.4 percent.

The Nasdaq composite (up 6.34 to 2,163.95, Charts) rebounded from earlier losses and ended the session 0.3 percent higher.

All three gauges were down for most of the morning.

The Nasdaq ended the week 5.5 percent higher, it's best performance since the week ending May 30, 2003.

The Dow finished the week 2.6 percent to the upside, while the S&P gained 2.8 percent.

Oil prices reversed a multiday slide to end over $1 higher, Treasury prices rose and the dollar was mixed.

"It just wouldn't go down today, " said Harry Clark, CEO of Clark Capitol management, about a market that refused to sell off despite a morning attempt.

Clark said he saw no real reason for the turnaround, other than the fact that traders were just rolling with the momentum for the past few days.

"There was some short coverage," he said. "Traders were just afraid to go home for the weekend being short."

The major gauges have rallied this week on upbeat earnings from Hewlett-Packard and others, falling oil prices following a cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, and relief about the Federal Reserve.

Next week will be light on economic news, with a report on existing home sales due Wednesday and Durable orders and new home sales set for release Thursday.

Here's what moved markets Friday:

Microsoft (Charts) helped turn the Nasdaq around, gaining about 3 percent after saying that it is increasing its current share buyback plan by about $16.2 billion, which it will buy through 2011.

Dell (down $0.64 to $22.16, Charts) was one of the original culprits for the down morning, slipping 3 percent Friday after it reported quarterly earnings late Thursday that fell from a year earlier and met analysts' estimates. The company also reported quarterly revenue that rose from a year earlier and modestly surpassed analysts' expectations.

Dell also said it was the subject of an informal Securities and Exchange Commission probe into its revenue recognition that it first learned of a year ago. The company said it is cooperating with the SEC and that it doesn't think there will be any material impact on its financial results.

Dell was one of several events that gave investors an excuse to take profits after an extremely strong week for the stock market.

A pair of mild inflation reports earlier in the week amped up bets that the Federal Reserve will not have to restart its recently-paused interest rate hiking campaign in September. This belief has boosted stock and bond markets through most of the week.

But a report Friday raised new concerns for investors about both higher inflation and what a slowing economy could mean for consumer spending.

The University of Michigan's preliminary read on August consumer sentiment fell to 78.7, down from 84.7 in July and well below economists' forecasts for a slim drop to 84.

The report also showed a larger-than-expected rise in one-year U.S. inflation expectations.

Investors also took in afternoon comments from President Bush, who said that the 2006 budget deficit would be less than expected.

As oil prices bounced back, so did oil stocks, including Exxon Mobil and Valero Energy.

The Amex Oil index added nearly 1 percent.

Altria (up $3.22 to $83.97, Charts) shares jumped 3.6 percent after a judge upheld a ruling that companies including its Philip Morris USA unit had violated federal racketeering laws, but said that she was unable to penalize the companies financially.

Foot Locker (Charts), the biggest U.S. retailer of athletic shoes, jumped 10 percent after the company said it hired an advisory firm, raising speculation it was close to being taken private.

Dell was the most influential of the decliners on the Nasdaq.

But another big decliner included Marvell Technology (down $1.43 to $19.05, Charts), which slumped 8.5 percent in unusually active Nasdaq trade after reporting quarterly revenue that was short of analysts' projections. The chip maker also joined the recent batch of companies delaying the release of quarterly earnings due to an internal probe of its stock-option practices.

On a separate note, Prudential downgraded the broader chip sector to "neutral" from "favorable," Reuters reported.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor (down 0.24 to 445.87, Charts) index, or the SOX, initially slipped 1.5 percent in response. However, the chips fought back and the sector was only down modestly in the afternoon.

Boeing (down $0.97 to $77.62, Charts), Caterpillar (down $1.05 to $68.31, Charts) and some of the more economically-sensitive Dow stocks slipped. Financial stocks were also weaker, after rallying all week on falling treasury bond prices. The Amex Broker/Dealer (Charts) index lost 1.5 percent.

Ford Motor (down $0.17 to $8.00, Charts) declined after cutting its production plans for the rest of the year and saying it is idling 10 plants.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers on volume of 1.34 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers edged out decliners on volume of 1.72 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for September delivery added $1.08 to settle at $71.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to around 4.84 percent from around 4.83 percent late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar inched higher versus the euro and was weaker versus the yen.

Gold prices fell $3.60 to settle $621.70 an ounce.

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