Mixed Open As Mortgage Rates Rise

Despite better than expected March same store sales, the markets opened mixed with the Dow losing 6 points to 12,419 as mortgage rates rose. Nasdaq rose 5 points to 2805.

On the upside

The Food and Drug Administration approved XenoPort's (Nasdaq: XNPT) restless leg syndrome treatment Horizant.

Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations by a wide margin and forecast current year results ahead of estimates.

Express (NYSE: EXPR) priced its secondary public offering of 19.8 million common shares at $19.00 per share.

On the downside

Gap (NYSE: GPS) disappointed with a sharp 10% drop in March same store sales.

Third quarter earnings for Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) slipped to fall short of analyst expectations.

Auriga downgraded Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq: MDRX) to a Hold rating.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 3 points to 857.