Stocks get earnings lift

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Upbeat earnings from Nokia and Starbucks helped stocks remain modestly higher, but residual subprime concerns and a weaker-than expected factory order reading capped gains.

The Dow Jones industrial index (up 11.62 to 13,373.99, Charts) gained 0.3 percent an hour into the session, after soaring by 150 points just a day earlier.

The broader S&P 500 (up 1.20 to 1,467.01, Charts) rose 0.2 percent, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index (up 3.84 to 2,557.71, Charts) climbed over 0.2 percent.

Nokia (up $1.99 to $30.40, Charts) was among a handful of companies that reported strong quarterly results Thursday, sending shares of the Finnish cell phone maker nearly 7 percent higher on the New York Stocks Exchange.

After the closing bell Wednesday, Starbucks (up $0.15 to $27.35, Charts, Fortune 500) posted higher profit and sales and affirmed its full-year earnings outlook.

Dow component Walt Disney (up $0.12 to $33.95, Charts, Fortune 500) also reported a rise in quarterly profit late Wednesday, lifted by strength in its TV and theme park businesses.

Rival media firm Viacom (up $1.15 to $39.15, Charts) posted higher revenue and a narrower-than expected quarterly loss Thursday, helped by DVD sales and box office revenue of "Shrek The Third." Viacom shares were nearly 3 percent higher.

Investors may be soothed by the latest sign of corporate profit strength, but trading is likely to remain turbulent as investors continue to worry about the spread of problems in the subprime mortgage sector.

Mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding (down $2.92 to $5.29, Charts) said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange commission it was not certain it would continue to operate due to the adverse conditions in the subprime mortgage market. Shares of the company tumbled 20 percent in morning trade on the Nasdaq.

In other corporate news, financial data processor Fiserv (up $0.97 to $50.16, Charts, Fortune 500) said it will acquire the electronic payment processing company Checkfree (up $8.83 to $45.66, Charts) for $4.4 billion in cash, soothing recent concerns that dealmaking will dry up on Wall Street in the wake of recent troubles in the credit market. Checkfree shares soared 24 percent on the news.

On the economic front, factory orders rose at a weaker-than expected pace of 0.6 percent in June, the government reported, and fell when stripping out the volatile transportation component.

Weekly jobless claims edged higher last week, the government reported before the opening bell, but came in lower than expected.

Oil prices climbed after reaching a trading high during the previous session. U.S. light crude for September delivery rose 24 cents to $76.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank fulfilled expectation by leaving interest rates unchanged Thursday.

Asian stocks tiptoed higher and European markets rose in midday trading.

Treasury prices slipped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.80 percent from 4.79 percent late Wednesday.

COMEX gold for December climbed $2.20 to $678.10 an ounce.