Opening Bell Report
The markets opened higher as oil prices fell ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Dow surged 140 points to 11,570 while Nasdaq climbed 20 points to 2400.
On the upside
Drugmaker King Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: KG) offered to buy Alpharma (NYSE: ALO) for $1.4 billion in order to expand its line of pain treatments.
Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings (NYSE: LEH) rose on hopes that a suitor may emerge to buy the beleaguered investment bank.
Apparel retail chain operator Gap (NYSE: GPS) posted higher profits due to better inventory control. Analysts promptly upgraded the stock.
On the downside
Nordson (Nasdaq: NDSN) posted higher revenues and earnings for the 3rd quarter, but sales growth for the industrial sealant maker degraded more quickly than expected by analysts.
Verigy (Nasdaq: VRGY) lowered its outlook for the current quarter due to a sales shortfall at the maker of test equipment for semiconductors.
Shares of Pacific Sunwear of California (Nasdaq: PSUN) tumbled to a 10-year low after the teen retailer posted a 2nd quarter loss and offered a breakeven outlook for the rest of the year.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on both the NYSE and Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 11 points to 736.
