Wall Street advances on corp profits, GE dividend

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday as a dividend hike by General Electric Co and solid earnings from companies including telecommunications provider Verizon Communications Inc boosted sentiment.

The Dow Industrials were briefly in positive territory for the year.

Shares of GE rose nearly 4 percent to $15.80 after the largest U.S. conglomerate increased its quarterly dividend by 20 percent, bolstering views the worst of the financial crisis was behind it. An S&P index of industrial shares added 2 percent, and the sector was among the top advancers.

Wall Street had a muted reaction at first after the anxiously awaited results of European bank stress tests.

Seven of 91 European banks failed the tests to gauge their strength, fewer than expected, but analysts questioned whether the tests were tough enough.

Verizon