New Italian Prime Minister To Present Economic Plan Tomorrow, Markets Close Higher
The markets closed modestly higher with the Dow rising 17 points to 12,096 as Italy's Prime Minister-designate Mario Monti prepared to present his economic program to President Giorgio Napolitano tomorrow. Nasdaq gained 28 points to 2686.
On the upside
VanceInfo Technologies (NYSE: VIT) reported lower third quarter earnings but revenue climbed and the information technology services firm forecast current quarter revenue ahead of expectations.
A Senate bill to expand tax credit incentives for natural gas vehicles lifted shares of Clean Energy Fuels (Nasdaq: CLNE).
Jacobs Engineering Group (NYSE: JEC) reported higher fourth quarter earnings as revenue rose.
On the downside
Assured Guaranty (NYSE: AGO) may stop issuing municipal bond insurance in states that lack guidelines for approving local bankruptcy petitions.
Gulf Resources (Nasdaq: GURE) disappointed with lower third quarter earnings and revenue.
First quarter earnings for K12 (NYSE: LRN) more than doubled but the results fell far short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 10 points to 743.
