Rise In New Home Sales Lifts Markets
An uptick in new home sales along with an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims boosted the markets during the midday with the Dow climbing 77 points to 8378. Nasdaq gained 16 points to 1747.
On the upside
FreeSeas (Nasdaq: FREE) reported sharply higher first quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates as the shipping company reduced expenses.
Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache upgraded CarMax (NYSE: KMX) citing the company's attractive stock price.
Longtop Financial Technologies (NYSE: LFT) reported sharply higher fourth quarter income as revenue surged.
On the downside
Moody's Investors Service lowered the default ratings of Terex (NYSE: TEX) further into junk status due to continued weakness in the construction market.
Shares of Jamba (Nasdaq: JMBA) fell ahead of its earnings release after market close.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE while decliners outpaced advancers by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 3 points to 486.
