Stocks rose on Friday as solid earnings from companies including telecommunications provider Verizon and a dividend hike by General Electric helped sentiment.

Investors on Wall Street showed a muted reaction at first after the results of European bank stress tests.

Seven of 91 European banks failed the tests to gauge their strength, according to results released by officials. Fewer banks failed than expected, but some analysts questioned whether the tests were tough enough. .

U.S.-listed shares of the Bank of Ireland rose 1.5 percent to $3.99 after news it had passed.

Other positive factors for the market included news of a dividend increase by General Electric.

Verizon Communications Inc gave a major lift to the Dow after it posted wireless customer growth and landline profit margins came in better than expected. [ID:nN2395698]. Shares were up 3.6 percent at $27.96. Other telecoms also rose, including AT&T , up 0.9 percent at $25.74.

We're seeing a muted reaction to the test results, said Steve Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Connecticut.

But expectations for a double-dip (recession) have passed somewhat. When you start looking at the robust earnings, (it's clear) we're going to have continued growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 84.54 points, or 0.82 percent, at 10,406.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 7.53 points, or 0.69 percent, at 1,101.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 17.66 points, or 0.79 percent, at 2,263.55.

Shares of GE rose 2.4 percent to $15.58 after the company announced a 20 percent increase in its quarterly dividend.

Weighing on the Nasdaq were shares of Amazon.com Inc , which reported a profit late Thursday that fell far short of estimates. Shares slid 3.9 percent to $115.40.

Hoping to ease fears over any impact from the euro-zone debt crisis, European regulators assessed how banks would cope with another downturn.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)