Apple and other big U.S. companies reporting fatter profits than expected are helping stock indexes shave off more of their sharp losses from the start of the week. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% at the start of trading on Friday and was on track for just a 0.

Apple stock was up in premarket trading after the iPhone maker posted first-quarter earnings results that beat expectations.

Wall Street pointed higher early Friday as more strong earnings results trickled in along with a closely-watched report from the U.S. government showing that inflation ticked higher. Futures for the