NEW YORK » Investors' ambivalence about earnings reports gave Wall Street a mixed performance yesterday.

Traders pounced on companies showing signs of life and dumped companies whose quarterly results fell short of expectations. Better-than-forecast results from Google Inc. helped technology shares while lackluster numbers from General Electric Co. reinforced investors' concerns about the depths of the recession.

Insurer Aflac Inc. helped ease some of Wall Street's concerns about the financial industry after reassuring investors it had more than enough cash to maintain its credit ratings. The company's stock tumbled 37 percent Thursday on reports it did not have adequate capital to cover risky investments. The company issued a statement and an analyst released a research note backing the company's financial position. Aflac rose 6.9 percent.

The results, particularly from the banks, weighed on stocks. Fears arose that banks' were so troubled the government would have to step in and essentially take over some financial companies.

Yesterday, the Dow industrials fell 45.24, or 0.56 percent, to 8,077.56. The Dow had been down more than 200 points early in the day and briefly moved into positive territory.

Broader stock indicators rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.45, or 0.54 percent, to 831.95, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.80, or 0.81 percent, to 1,477.29.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.51, or 0.34 percent, to 444.36.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.72 billion shares compared with 5.75 billion shares traded Thursday.

For the week, the Dow is down 2.5 percent, the S&P 500 is down 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq is ending off 3.4 percent.

“;We had bad earnings. It's all coming in below reduced expectations,”; Lee said.

Meanwhile, bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.62 percent from 2.60 percent late Thursday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, was flat at 0.09 percent from late Thursday.

The dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies, and gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude jumped $2.80 to settle at $46.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.