Sharply Higher Open On Strong Earnings

Strong corporate earnings sent the markets soaring to a sharply higher open with the Dow surging 155 points to 12,727. Nasdaq climbed 32 points to 2846.

On the upside

Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts (Nasdaq: ESRX) will pay approximately $29.1 billion in cash and stock to acquire competitor MedcoHealth Solutions (NYSE: MHS).

Workforce solutions firm SFN Group (NYSE: SFN) agreed to be acquired for a premium of $14 per share in cash by human resources services provider Randstad Holding.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) swung to a second quarter loss but revenue rose to surpass analyst expectations by a wide margin.

On the downside

Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX) reported sharply lower fourth quarter earnings and forecast first quarter results that fell far short of analyst expectations.

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) warned of second quarter losses as the company increased its mortgage loss reserves.

Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR) disappointed with sharply lower second quarter earnings that missed estimates and forecast third quarter earnings below expectations.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 9 points to 841.