Higher Close As Retail Sales Rise

Investors welcomed news that retail sales rose in July by lifting the markets to a higher close with the Dow climbing 125 points to 11,269. Nasdaq gained 15 points to 2507.

On the upside

Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL) will repurchase up to $300 million worth of company stock.

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) will begin sales tomorrow at its Millennia Park development in Orlando, Florida.

A Seeking Alpha article listed Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: KERX) as one of five biotechnology stocks with much upside potential.

On the downside

UBS (NYSE: UBS) hired six former Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) financial advisors.

Jefferies analyst David Katz downgraded Orient-Express Hotels (NYSE: OES) to an Underperform rating.

The Fair Trade Commission of South Korea is investigating liquid crystal display companies Chimei Innolux, LG Display (NYSE: LPL) and Samsung for alleged price-fixing.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 697.