The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday on the back of strong earnings from Procter & Gamble as Wall Street tried to regain its footing after a sharp sell-off in the prior session.

The 30-stock index climbed 64.89 points to 25,444.34, led by a 8.8 percent surge in Procter & Gamble shares, their biggest since Oct. 28, 2008. The Dow also posted its first weekly gain in four, climbing 0.4 percent in that time. Procter surged after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The company said it got a boost from strong beauty-product sales.

Honeywell and Schlumberger also reported better-than-forecast profits. American Express, PayPal and Skechers all posted on Thursday earnings that topped analyst expectations. Their shares rose 3.8 percent, 9.4 percent and 13.8 percent, respectively.

The corporate earnings season is off to a strong start. With more than 15 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported, 83 percent have topped analyst expectations, according to FactSet.

The closed just below the flatline at 2,767.78, however, as declines in health care and consumer discretionary offset a 2.3 percent gain in consumer staples. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5 percent to 7,449.03 as Facebook, Amazon and Netflix all pulled back.

"The underpinnings of the economy are still in place and earnings are still good," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "The market is not going to have an immediate recovery; it tends to bounce."