Dow boosted by earnings, tech shares lag (ext)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Stocks closed mixed Friday, with technology shares lagging the broader market, as investors weighed strong earnings from General Electric against a quarterly loss from Bank of America.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 49 points, or 0.4%, to close at 11,872, the highest level since June 2008. The S&P 500 (SPX) added 3 points, or 0.2%, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq (COMP) fell 15 points, or 0.5%.

"The profit news is pretty favorable today," said Nick Kalivas, vice president of financial research at MF Global. "GE is probably the poster child for that, but Google certainly did well last night."

The technology sector has been under pressure this week, despite strong earnings from tech leaders IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), Apple (APPL) and Google. Some traders say the sector is "overbought" and that strong tech earnings may not be enough to push the market higher.

"It's getting harder to surprise investors who already have elevated levels of enthusiasm related to equity investments," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott.

The dollar slipped against major international currencies, including the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.

Oil for March delivery was flat, slipping 48 cents to settle at $89.11 a barrel.

Gold futures for February delivery fell $5.50 to close at $1,341 an ounce.