Thanks to a late jump in oil prices and enthusiasm for Google's earnings, Wall Street ended with a mixed picture on Friday -- a significant improvement from the Dow's early 200-point plunge. 

Today's Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 45.24 points, or 0.56%, to 8077.56, the S&P 500 rose 4.45 points, or 0.54%, to 831.95 and the Nasdaq Composite added 11.80 points, or 0.81%, to 1477.29. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 fell 1.59 points, or 0.26%, to 620.29.

“I think most people are going to be going home breathing a sigh of relief that things didn’t end much worse,” said Michael James, senior equity trader at Wedbush Morgan Securities. “The commodities have been a big boost today as they are a bigger percentage weighting after the obliteration of the financials.” 

The markets swung from steep losses to minor gains throughout the day, ultimately ending well above their worst levels. The Dow managed to steer clear of the pivotal 8000 level while the S&P 500 bounced avoided the widely-watched 800 level. Regardless of Friday's comeback, it wasn't a pretty week of trading for Wall Street as the Dow lost more than 200 points. 

“This is really a trader's market. This volatility is really wacky so you need to pick your spots," NYSE trader Doreen Mogavero told FOX Business. 

In addition to oil jumping above $46 per barrel and Google's (GOOG) solid earnings, the markets were influenced by General Electric's (GE) 44% plunge in profit and gloomy economic news out of the United Kingdom.  

By Friday's closing bell, nearly half of the Dow's 30 components crept into positive territory, led by Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC). On the other hand, GE and Caterpillar (CAT) prevented the index from ending in the green. 

Energy, Techs Lift Markets

Boosted by a late-day rally in crude oil prices, the energy sector provided the markets with the most strength Friday. The sector jumped as much as 4%, led by stocks like Valero (VLO) and Schlumberger (SLB). 

After plunging as low as $41.40 per barrel, oil prices turned sharply higher, ending in the green for the fifth straight day. The price of a barrel of crude settled up $3.00, or 9.16%, to $46.67. 

Tech stocks were also on the rise, jumping more than 2% as a sector after Google's results gave the industry another positive surprise. The search titan's adjusted-earnings of $5.10 per share topped analyst estimates by 15 cents. Google's revenue jumped 18%, down from the 50% growth that became norm for the company, but matching estimates. 

The Google news came days after fellow tech heavyweights IBM (IBM) and Apple (AAPL) also managed to exceed expectations despite the slumping global economy. 

Google's results helped send the Nasdaq Composite to a much stronger performance than the broader markets, rebounding from Thursday's decline of nearly 3%. Marvell Technologies (MRVL) and Google posted some of the largest percentage gains on the Nasdaq 100, offsetting losses from Logitech (LOGI) and Biogen (BIIB). 

Wall Street had to overcome significant weakness from General Electric, which plummeted to new 52-week lows despite its quarterly earnings matching estimates. GE, which used to be seen as a corporate bellwether, reported a 44% plunge in fourth-quarter profit and warned of a "difficult" 2009. The conglomerate's revenue slid 5% to $46.2 billion, missing expectations. GE emphasized its goal to keep its coveted "AAA" credit rating and said it plans to maintain its $1.24 per share annual dividend. 

Friday's early losses were also tied to a plunge in European markets after the British government said the nation's GDP fell by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, the steepest decline in gross domestic product since 1980. Economists had been bracing for a more modest decline of 1.3%. Just like Wall Street, European markets managed to shrug off the losses to end the day mixed. 

Reflecting the continued anxiety on Wall Street, gold futures surged to the highest level since early October and briefly touched the $900-an-ounce level. Gold futures settled up $37.10, or 4.32%, to $895.30 per ounce.

Corporate Movers

Pfizer (PFE) is in talks to purchase rival drug maker Wyeth (WYE), The Wall Street Journal reported. The deal could be worth $60 billion, the Journal reported, and would be the first mega-merger of 2009.

Toyota Motors (TM) is considering slashing up to 1,000 full-time jobs in North America and the U.K. in what would be a near unprecedented reduction of regular employees, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported.

Geron (GERN) saw its shares surge after the biotech company received FDA approval to conduct the world’s first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy.

Yahoo! (YHOO) has reportedly frozen annual salary increases, the first major cost-cutting move since new CEO Carol Bartz took over last week.

Aflac’s (AFL) shares rebounded after the insurer said it does not see raising additional capital or cutting its dividend. The company, whose shares plummeted to six-year lows a day ago, also said it expects to meet its earnings growth goal.

Capital One Financial (COF) plunged to new 52-week lows after the credit card issuer posted a steeper-than-expected quarterly loss Also, S&P cut Capital One’s outlook to “negative” and a trio of analysts slashed their price targets on the company.

Intel's (INTC) board of directors elected Jane Shaw to replace Chairman Crag Barrett when he retires in May.

Schlumberger (SLB) saw its shares briefly tumble to 3-1/2 year lows after the oilfield services company missed expectations with adjusted-earnings of $1.03 per share. 

Harley-Davidson (HOG) fell to fresh 52-week lows after the iconic motorcycle company disappointed with a 58% drop in fourth-quarter net income. The company also unveiled plans to close facilities, fire 1,100 employees and abandon its earnings guidance. 

Global Markets

European markets ended mixed as the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 closed down 0.56% to 2147.87 but London's FTSE 100 ended unchanged at 4052.47.

Asian markets fared much was as Japan's Nikkei 225 fell by 3.8% overnight while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended down 0.6%.