By Anora Mahmudova and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened tentatively higher Friday, putting the main benchmarks on track to finish the week roughly where they started it.

Investors assessed mixed earnings reports from companies such as General Electric Company and Google Inc. and implications of a deadly Malaysia Airlines jet crash in Ukraine that triggered a selloff in equities on Thursday.

The S&P 500 (SPX) opened 6 points, or 0.3%, higher at 1,964.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 49 points, or 0.3%, to 17,027.64. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) gained 16.6 points, or 0.4%, to 4,380.73.

Equities on Thursday were rattled by news that 298 passengers were killed in a Malaysia Airlines crash in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops has been going on for months.

U.S. intelligence officials said the jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Ukraine and some Western officials have blamed pro-Russia separatists for the attack, while Russia's President Vladimir Putin says the fault lies with Ukraine's government. Read: Tensions grow as Putin, Western officials trade blame over jet crash

Meanwhile, Israel on Thursday night launched an open-ended ground invasion of Gaza aimed at crushing Hamas militants after 10 days of aerial bombardment.

Even after Thursday's events in Ukraine, it isn't easy to decide to sell U.S. stocks, wrote Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group in a note.

More has to go wrong, such as earnings quality for companies deteriorating and oil prices trending higher to threaten the "fragile economic recoveries in the U.S. and Europe," he said.

Investors will also get a look at developments in the U.S. economy on Friday. A gauge of consumer sentiment could show an improved outlook, aided by strengthening in the labor market. The gauge from the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters is likely to rise to 83, from a final June level of 82.5. It's set for release at 9:55 a.m. Eastern Time.

Then at 10 a.m. Eastern, the Conference Board will release its June leading-economic index report. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires expect a gain, which would signal the economy will continue to expand. The LEI in May rose 0.5%.

Ahead of the opening bell, shares of General Electric (GE) rose 1% after the industrial conglomerate's second-quarter earnings met Wall Street's projection. GE also said it's targeting the IPO of its Synchrony Financial business for the end of July.

Google (GOOG) shares rallied 3%, after the Internet company late Thursday posted second-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street's expectation, and IBM (IBM) reported late Thursday second-quarter results that topped expectations.

V.F. Corp. (VFC), maker of North Face and Wrangler branded clothing, issued a full-year earnings outlook that was below analyst projections. Its stock fell initially, but picked up 0.6% premarket.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) tumbled 18% after the chip maker said its second-quarter adjusted earnings were 2 cents a share, below the 3 cents a share projected by analysts in a FactSet survey. For more on today's notable movers, read our regular Movers and Shakers column.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Average fell 1% as investors sought the perceived safety of the Japanese yen. But the U.S. dollar (USDJPY) eventually pared its losses against the yen. European stocks slid on the geopolitical tensions, and Russia's MICEX dropped 2.1%.

In the commodities market, gold futures (GCQ4) fell $6 to $1,310 an ounce. August crude futures (CLQ4) fell 19 cents to $103 a barrel.

More must-reads from MarketWatch:

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