Markets Extend Gains As Ireland Announces Austerity Plan

The markets extended its gains during the midday with the Dow leaping 134 points to 11,162 after Ireland released details of its four-year austerity plan. Nasdaq surged 46 points to 2541.

On the upside

A drop in jobless claims lifted shares of online employment solutions firm Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW). 

Citigroup lifted its target price on Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS) to $21.

Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) announced a $56 million expansion of its memory chip manufacturing plant in Manassas, Virginia that will create 123 more jobs.

On the downside

Investors locked in profits on Astrotech (Nasdaq: ASTC), whose shares surged yesterday on its $35 million NASA contract win. 

Shares of Aastrom Biosciences (Nasdaq: ASTM) continued falling after reporting disappointing clinical trial results last week.

Zale (Nasdaq: ZLC) reported a wider than expected loss for the first quarter yesterday.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 9 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 14 points to 734.