Oracle Corp.'s latest quarterly results Thursday underscore the critical role its software business plays despite its push to become a more well-rounded technology vendor by selling computer servers.

Oracle's net income increased 36 percent as new sales of business software were at the high end of its expectations. Revenue rose 13 percent.

But the company's stock fell as its hardware division stumbled.

Oracle bought fallen Silicon Valley star Sun Microsystems last year for $7.3 billion. That thrust Oracle into the computer server business.

The transformation has made CEO Larry Ellison one of the world's richest men. It also made an enemy of longtime partner Hewlett-Packard Co.

Ellison has repeatedly said that he wanted to focus Sun's business only on higher-profit deals. As a result, he warned, some lower-margin deals may fall off.

Now that Oracle has had Sun for a full year, the effect of Ellison's strategy is coming into focus.

Oracle said net income was $3.21 billion, or 62 cents per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended May 31. That compares with $2.36 billion, or 46 cents per share, a year ago.

What began with a steep drop in the stock market ended with a modest decline Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost just 60 points after being down nearly 240 points earlier in the day.

A jump in the number of people applying for jobless benefits and plummeting oil prices drove stocks lower at the market open. By 11 a.m., the Dow was down 234 points. Then came late afternoon reports that Greece may have reached a deal for a new austerity plan. The Dow made up nearly 100 points between 2:45 and 3 p.m. alone.

The Dow finished with a loss of 59.67 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,050. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, down as many as 24 points, closed down just 3.64, or 0.3 percent, to 1,283.50.

Since late April, reports on manufacturing, retail sales, home sales and other economic indicators have come in weaker than economists anticipated. Europe's debt problems and a slowing growth rate in China have also raised concerns about the global economy. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said problems plaguing the economy may last longer than previously thought.

H&R Block Inc. on Thursday said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 5 percent, as revenue declined and a series of unusual charges weighed down results.

The nation's largest tax preparation company said it earned $658.6 million, or $2.15 per share, in the quarter ended April 30. That compared with net income of $690.8 million, or $2.11 per share, in the year-earlier period.

The number of outstanding shares dropped 6 percent from last year, which helped lift per-share earnings for the recent quarter.

The results were affected by several charges, including costs equal to 6 cents per share related to the legal fight over the loss of its refund-anticipation loan program at the end of 2010 and severance costs for departed employees.

Revenue slipped one half percent to $2.33 billion from $2.34 billion last year. Revenue in its tax services division edged down in the quarter. Business services revenue -- its RSM McGladrey consulting unit -- fell 6 percent.

Analysts on average expected adjusted profit of $2.14 per share on revenue of $2.32 billion, according to data provided by FactSet.

Block prepared 21.4 million tax returns this year, up 6.5 percent from 2010. Growth came in both its retail stores, which added 500,000 customers, and through its digital products, which added 800,000 customers, with online do-it-yourself preparation leaping 29 percent. That was a significant gain, because Block's digital products lag rival Intuit's TurboTax.

The Williams Cos. Inc. announced an unsolicited takeover bid of about $4.9 billion Thursday for pipeline company Southern Union Co., which agreed last week to a sale to Energy Transfer Equity LP.

Williams, which also operates gas pipelines, said it would offer $39 per share in cash and top Energy Transfer's bid of $33 per share, or $4.2 billion.

The announcement came after the markets closed and sent Southern Union shares higher after hours.

Southern Union rose 34 cents to $34.15 in regular trading, then jumped $5, or 14.6 percent, to $39.19 in about a half-hour of late trading. Williams shares closed at $29.23, down 9 cents, and fell another 89 cents, or 3 percent, to $28.34 in late trading.

Williams said Southern Union would complement its own business, create a network of nearly 30,000 miles of regulated pipelines and save $50 million a year for the combined companies.

Greece's beleaguered government said Thursday it will start taxing minimum-wage earners and encourage local banks to help the state delay debt payments for bonds maturing as late as 2015.

Evangelos Venizelos, the country's new finance minister, also said the government is encouraging a deferment scheme under the so-called "Vienna initiative," signing up private investors to voluntarily renew their debt holdings as they expire.

The next big challenge for Greece is to have parliament approve a new round of austerity measures before getting the vital next batch of loans, worth euro12 billion, out of its euro110 billion rescue fund from eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

Venizelos predicted Thursday that the two-stage vote on June 28 and 30 would be successful, and he met with EU and IMF debt inspectors to discuss details of the new austerity plan worth a total of euro28 billion. The two sides reached broad agreement on the package late Thursday, with discussions on "minor details" left to be concluded Friday, two Greek government officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, in keeping with regulations.