The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow rising 27 points to 12,530 as home prices rose. Nasdaq gained 14 points to 2850.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration granted tentative approval to Supernus Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: SUPN) epilepsy treatment Trokendi XR.
First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) will increase its mortgage repurchase reserve by $250 million.
Rising home prices lifted shares of PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM).
On the downside
Standard & Poor’s lowered its corporate credit rating on James River Coal (Nasdaq: JRCC).
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) introduced its new STM32 F3 series of micro controllers but the stock price fell.
Robbins & Myers (NYSE: RBN) reported lower third quarter earnings and forecast current quarter results below analyst estimates.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 763.
