Bull try to stay afloat

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Major gauges turned mixed Thursday afternoon as subprime and credit market fears continued to trouble investors, despite some upbeat earnings news.

The Dow Jones industrial index (up 34.14 to 13,396.51, Charts) gained about 0.4 percent with less than an hour remaining in the session.

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The broader S&P 500 edged (down 0.14 to 1,465.67, Charts) higher after dipping into negative territory, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index (up 13.19 to 2,567.06, Charts) climbed nearly 0.6 percent.

While improved earnings from a number of large companies provided an early lift to stocks, subprime worries and concerns about the impact of tighter credit standards on the financial sector kept a lid on gains.

"There are still some rumors out there that funding issues are becoming growing concerns," said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist for St. Louis-based broker Stifel Nicolaus. "There's still a fair amount of uncertainty regarding the outlook of that [financial] sector and its multiplying effect through the economy."

Shares of a number of financial firms including Bear Stearns (down $3.22 to $115.08, Charts, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (down $2.45 to $186.55, Charts, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (down $1.14 to $63.24, Charts, Fortune 500) were all lower in afternoon trade.

Subprime concerns resurfaced after mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding (down $2.95 to $5.26, Charts) revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it was not certain it would continue to operate because of adverse conditions of the subprime mortgage market. Shares of the company tumbled nearly 35 percent on the news.

Stocks got off to a modestly higher start following improved earnings from Nokia (up $2.23 to $30.64, Charts), Starbucks (down $0.13 to $27.07, Charts, Fortune 500) and Dow component Walt Disney (up $0.28 to $34.11, Charts, Fortune 500).

But oil prices helped cap gains as crude remained near record highs reached earlier this week. U.S. light crude for September delivery rose 34 cents to $76.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A weaker-than-expected reading on June factory orders and a surprisingly low weekly jobless claims reading briefly jolted stocks, but ultimately had little impact as Wall Street braced for the big economic reading of the week: Friday's employment report for July.

Right now, U.S. employers are expected to have added 1350,000 jobs last month, up from June, according to Briefing.com.

"I think if the number comes in at or above expectations it will be a positive for the stock market in the near term and provide some stability," said Cripps.

In other corporate news, financial data processor Fiserv (down $0.32 to $48.87, Charts, Fortune 500) said it will acquire the electronic payment processing company Checkfree (up $8.63 to $45.46, 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 23 percent on the news.

Market breadth was positive. Winners beat losers by 4 to 3 on volume of 1.49 billion on the New York Stock Exchange. Advancers edged out decliners on volume of 1.95 billion on the Nasdaq.

Treasury prices climbed, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 4.75 percent from 4.79 percent late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.

COMEX gold for December gained 70 cents to $676.60 an ounce.