Investors snapped up bargains to lift the markets higher during the midday with the Dow gaining 65 points to 12,155. Nasdaq climbed 15 points to 2717.
On the upside
Comments from Ahold that the international retailer may explore possible acquisitions fueled speculation that SuperValu (NYSE: SVU) may be a take-over target.
International Paper's (NYSE: IP) $3.38 billion cash offer to purchase Temple-Inland (NYSE: TIN) lifted shares of rival Weyerhaeser (NYSE: WY).
Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS) launched a new line of ultra low current, general purpose low noise amplifiers for diverse wireless applications.
On the downside
Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) bondholder Aurelius Capital Management argued in court that efforts by the Irish government to impose losses on bondholders of Allied Irish and the Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) were illegal.
Navistar International (NYSE: NAV) reported higher first quarter earnings but the results fell far short of analyst expectations as expenses climbed.
Shares of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SNSS) continued falling after announcing yesterday the study design for its Phase 3 VALOR trial of its acute myeloid leukemia treatment vosaroxin.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 7 points to 802.
