NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks managed modest gains Friday morning, as investors tiptoed back after a two-session selloff, thanks in part to falling oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 19.77 to 11,351.21, Charts), the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.06 to 1,295.08, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (up 0.98 to 2,156.27, Charts) all crept higher around an hour into the session.

Stocks slipped Thursday on revived worries about higher inflation forcing higher interest rates, sparked partly by comments from San Francisco Federal Reserve president Janet Yellen. Yellen said that the central bank might need to keep raising rates because of rising inflation.

However, the declines were also a case of classic profit taking, with investors cashing out a bit after an unusually strong August.

The tone was more upbeat Friday morning, thanks in part to lower oil prices.

Comments from Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto Friday morning also helped. Pianalto said that inflation was worrisome, but that the slowing economy will help counter it, essentially what the Fed forecast at the last policy meeting.

Among stock movers, National Semiconductor (down $0.49 to $23.90, Charts) slipped modestly after warning that current-quarter revenue will miss forecasts, due to a continued bout of sluggish sales.

Lennar Corp. (down $0.82 to $42.43, Charts) was little changed after the homebuilder joined the list of companies in its industry warning that quarterly earnings will miss estimates.

On Thursday, Beazer Homes (down $0.40 to $36.93, Charts) and KB Home (up $0.00 to $40.40, Charts) warned that quarterly earnings would miss forecasts amid the slowdown in housing and the overall economy.

Amazon.com (up $0.55 to $30.28, Charts) inched higher. After the close Thursday, it announced a widely anticipated service that allows customers to download movies and television programs to their personal computers.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.77 percent from 4.78 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the yen and euro.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $9.60 to $615.30 an ounce.

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