The Institute for Supply Management reported expansion in the manufacturing sector in June to lift the markets to a sharply higher open with the Dow soaring 126 points to 12,540. Nasdaq climbed 23 points to 2797.
On the upside
Activist investor Carl Icahn has accumulated 8.7 million shares of Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK) for a 9.5% stake in the heavy duty equipment and vehicle maker and said that the stock is undervalued.
Apollo Group (Nasdaq: APOL) reported higher third quarter earnings despite lower revenue and enrollment.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) will not sell stock to raise capital and expects to have more than $500 million in cash at the end of the year after funding senior notes and settling a joint venture dispute.
The International Trade Commission ruled against Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) saying that digital cameras in smartphones from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Research in Motion (NYSE: RIMM) did not infringe on Kodak's patents.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will review the marketing practices of Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS).
DemandTec (Nasdaq: DMAN) blamed one-time items and expenses for widening first quarter losses more than expected.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks rose 6 points to 834.