By Victor Reklaitis and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks advanced early Friday, adding to their big weekly gains.

Investors appeared to shrug off worries about New York's first Ebola case, which had weighed on U.S. stock futures. Sentiment got a lift from better-than-expected quarterly results from companies such as Procter & Gamble Co. and United Parcel Service Inc.

The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,956. The benchmark is on track for a weekly gain of 3.7%, having bounced back after slumping to a six-month intraday low, after last week's choppy trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 41 points, or 0.3%, to 16,719, as the blue-chip barometer eyed a 2.1% gain for the week. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) tacked on 15 points, or 0.3%, to 4,467. The tech-heavy index is on pace for a 4.9% advance for the week.

Investors may take a cautious approach Friday ahead of this weekend's release of results from the stress tests for European banks, which come amid a raft of data showing slowing growth in Europe. The release is expected on Sunday, although a Bloomberg report on Friday said 25 banks could fail the test. Check out: 5 things to know about the ECB stress tests

On Thursday, strong results from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and 3M Co. (MMM) helped fuel solid gains for stocks, as the Dow industrials enjoyed 217-point advance.

Today's key headlines: U.S. stock futures, as well as the dollar (DXY), fell overnight following news late Thursday that a New York doctor has contracted the deadly Ebola virus, marking the first such case in the city. Treasurys strengthened "as [the] Ebola-scare in New York spurred the safe-haven demand for bonds," ICICI Bank wrote in a note.

At 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday, a report on sales of new single-family homes for September is due. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect sales of 455,000.

Also around the corner is next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting. The Fed is expected to end its third-round of bond buying, which had been aimed at helping the U.S. economy emerge from the 2008 financial crisis.

"The central question then that traders will be asking (assuming Ebola looks to be contained) will be whether the Fed removes the 'considerable period' for keeping the funds rate low," said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, referring to the Fed's policy statement in a Friday note. It's likely the Fed will "continue to see rates staying low for a considerable period of time and remain confident in its economic outlook, thus sending a message of confidence to the market," Weston wrote.

Movers & Shakers: Procter & Gamble (PG) shares climbed 2% after the consumer-goods heavyweight said it plans to get out of its Duracell battery business and posted adjusted quarterly earnings that matched expectations.

Ford Motor Co.'s (F) quarterly profit fell to $835 million, and pretax profit fell to $1.18 billion, but the figures beat Wall Street's projections. Shares fell 2%. Meanwhile, shipping giant UPS (UPS) gained 2% after its quarterly results surpassed estimates, and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares picked up 3% after the company posted quarterly profit and revenue that topped forecasts.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) dropped 7% after the online retailer reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss late Thursday.

(Read more about today's jumpiest stocks in the Movers & Shakers column http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ford-ups-nasdaq-earnings-in-focus-2014-10-24.)

Other markets: In Asia, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 1% but Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.1%. European stocks moved lower. Gold futures (GCZ4) were higher, while oil futures (CLZ4) lost ground.

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