Business confidence unexpectedly rose in Germany to boost the markets higher during the midday with the Dow climbing 85 points to 13,049. Nasdaq rose 8 points to 3016.
On the upside
TD Securities upgraded Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) to a Buy rating.
SkyPeople Fruit Juice (Nasdaq: SPU) announced that an independent auditor verified the company’s cash balances held in financial institutions in China.
NCR (NYSE: NCR) reported higher first quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations as revenue climbed.
On the downside
Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR) disappointed with sharply lower first quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations as revenue plunged.
Lattice Semiconductor (Nasdaq: LSCC) fell to a greater than expected loss for the first quarter.
Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) cited weak demand due to the mild winter for idling another thermal coal mine.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 8 points to 806.
