Stocks Open Higher on Home Price Gains

August 25, 2009 6:50 AM |
In the 2nd quarter of the year, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller's U.S. National Home Price Index posted its 1st quarterly increase in 3 years.  Investors grew optimistic about the economic recovery pushing the Dow up 39 points to 9548.  Nasdaq rose 9 points to 2027. 

On the upside

An analyst upgraded Warner Chilcott (Nasdaq: WCRX) which offered $3.1 billion to buy the prescription drug business from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) yesterday.

The upbeat housing price report lifted the financial services sector.  Shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM), Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) rose in heavy trading.

Tuesday Morning (Nasdaq: TUES) posted lower revenues and a narrow loss.  The company is a closeout retailer of upscale houseware and gifts.

For-profit education company Corinthian Colleges (Nasdaq: COCO) reported higher revenues and a profit versus year-ago losses.  High unemployment was the primary driver for new enrollments. 

On the downside

Daktronics (Nasdaq: DAKT) posted earnings that beat expectations, but revenues fell and were expected to keep contracting.  The company makes electronic display systems.

Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW) was removed from the S&P 500.  The company makes cranes and food service equipment.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 582.

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