Stocks move higher at midday

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks gained in midday trade Thursday, as investors weighed positive earnings news, lingering subprime fears and an uptick in the price of oil.

The Dow Jones industrial index (up 23.66 to 13,386.03, Charts) gained about 0.4 percent 2-1/2 hours into the session, after soaring by 150 points just a day earlier.

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The broader S&P 500 (up 0.00 to 1,465.81, Charts) rose 0.3 percent, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index (up 7.53 to 2,561.40, Charts) climbed 0.7 percent.

Finnish cell phone maker Nokia (up $2.14 to $30.55, Charts), Starbucks (down $0.15 to $27.05, Charts, Fortune 500) and Dow component Walt Disney (up $0.20 to $34.03, Charts, Fortune 500) were among a number of companies that reported improved earnings, helped send stocks higher at the start.

But continued worries about the subprime mortgage market, which have contributed to the market's recent volatility, again troubled investors Thursday.

Mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding (down $4.01 to $4.20, 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 nearly 49 percent on the Nasdaq.

"I think once get past this scare, people are going to be rushing to buy the market," said Harry Clark, founder and CEO of Clark Capital Management Group.

Higher oil prices also pressured stocks just a day after crude climbed to a record trading high. U.S. light crude for September delivery rose 68 cents to $77.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other earnings news, media outfit Viacom (up $0.64 to $38.64, Charts) posted higher revenue and a narrower-than expected quarterly loss Thursday, helped by DVD sales and box office revenue of "Shrek The Third."

Eastman Kodak (up $1.07 to $26.62, Charts, Fortune 500) shares climbed nearly 4 percent after the company reported a quarterly profit helped by the sale of its health-care group.

In other corporate news, financial data processor Fiserv (down $0.20 to $48.99, Charts, Fortune 500) said it will acquire the electronic payment processing company Checkfree (up $8.76 to $45.59, 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 about 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.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 4.79 percent from late Wednesday.

The dollar fell against the euro and was higher versus the yen.

COMEX gold for December fell $1.60 to $674.30 an ounce.

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

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