Jobless Claims Fall, Markets Open Higher

First time applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week to lift the markets to a higher open with the Dow soaring 82 points to 12,708. Nasdaq surged 29 points to 2863.

On the upside

JPMorgan's (NYSE: JPM) private investment division One Equity Partners will pay approximately $470 million in cash to acquire APAC Customer Services (Nasdaq: APAC).

Target (NYSE: TGT) reported a better than expected same store sales growth of 4.5% in June.

The Bedford Report cited recent data that there were more than 400 million internet users in China with the potential to increase to 750 million by 2015 for issuing reports that E-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and Renren (NYSE: RENN) both offered growth opportunities with strong potential returns.

On the downside

Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX) warned that second quarter revenue will fall below analyst expectations.

J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) reported a 2% increase in June same store sales but analysts expected a higher gain.

Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) blamed continued weakness in the economy for forecasting second quarter earnings and revenue below analyst estimates. The company also cut its outlook for the full year.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 9 points to 854.