Wall Street edges up on earns, ahead of stress tests

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow Industrials edged higher on Friday as another round of solid corporate earnings offset uncertainty ahead of European bank stress test results.

All three major indexes are up for the week.

Hoping to ease fears over any impact from the euro zone debt crisis on Europe's banking system, regulators assessed how banks would cope with another downturn. The stress test results were due at noon EDT.

"Definite nervousness about these stress tests. Again, it's only an extreme result that is going to produce a major move on the market if it's either much better or much worse than expected," said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners in New York.

While many analysts feel the stress tests are factored into the market, investors are worried about any new regulatory requirements on banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 24.37 points, or 0.24 percent, to 10,346.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> added 1.22 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,094.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 0.76 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,245.13.

Verizon Communications Inc was the top lift to the Dow, up 4 percent to $28.07, after it posted wireless customer growth and landline profit margins came in better than expected.

Amazon.com Inc's profit fell far short of estimates, hurt by a 40 percent jump in expenses and price cuts on its Kindle electronic reader. The shares slid 6 percent to$112.86.

Ford Motor Co jumped 5.1 percent to $12.70 after the automaker posted stronger-than-expected earnings and said it was on track to be profitable in 2010.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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