(Photo via Creative Commons)

The Dow Jones finished up 143 points after an early surge of more than 200 points early in the morning. After a steady dip later in trading, a spurt of buying in the last 30 minutes sent the Dow into the green.

Many attribute the last-minute jump to Germany's passage of a measure to expand Europe's bailout fund powers, which pushed financial stocks up.

However, toppling technology sent the NASDAQ into the negative after there was news of an investigation into Apple's accounting practices.

From Reuters:

Tech names pressured the Nasdaq, with Amazon.com Inc off 3.2 percent at $222.44 following a sharp rally in Wednesday's session. Advanced Micro Devices sank 13.7 percent to $5.31 after cutting its third-quarter revenue outlook, prompting many analysts to downgrade their views on the stock.

Apple shares fell 1.6 percent to $390.57 on profit taking after gaining more than 16 percent during the quarter.

Other big-cap Internet names were also down. Netflix Inc. sank 11 percent to $113.19 while Yahoo Inc lost 5.4 percent to $13.42.

A Merrill Lynch index of Internet stocks .HHI, which includes Amazon and Yahoo, fell 3.01 percent.

Friday marks the end of the third quarter of the year, which many financial analysts believe will lead to increased trading and positioning by several large companies.