Despite Disappointing Economic News, Markets Close Higher
Although productivity growth slowed and activity in the services sector sharply contracted, the market closed higher due to bargain hunting. The Dow soared 173 points to 8592 while Nasdaq leaped 43 points to 1492.
On the upside
Speculation that Toshiba is considering acquiring SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) lifted shares of the chip maker.
Polypore International (NYSE: PPO) subsidiary Celgard received a contract from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium valued at $2.3 million to develop lithium-ion battery separators.
W. R. Grace & Co. (NYSE: GRA) settled a class action lawsuit related to the use of asbestos by agreeing to pay $140 million into a trust fund.
On the downside
Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) temporarily suspended redemptions from the company's largest hedge fund.
WuXi Pharma Tech (NYSE: WX) will shutter its U. S. biologics manufacturing operations at the end of the year.
Barclays lowered its price target for Micron Technology (NYSE: MU).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 12 points to 454.
