Friday's midday trade: Wall Street up

US stocks rose Friday, with growth-related shares leading the way as investors focused on a brighter US economic outlook. Reversing a recent trend of trading in tandem with European stocks, US equities were on track to post their best day this week. US financials, which have underperformed the S&P 500 this week, were the strongest of the 10 top sectors in the benchmark index, up 1.2 percent.
Credit card company Discover Financial added 4.4 percent to $24.08 a day after posting strong results and raising its dividend. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.83 point, or 0.01 percent, to 11,867.98. The S&P 500 gained 5.01 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,220.76. The Nasdaq Composite gained 17.72 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,558.73.