Markets Advance As Europe Nears Debt Deal

The markets continued to advance during the midday with the Dow soaring 163 points to 12,735 as European leaders moved closer to finalizing a solution to contain the debt crisis. Nasdaq gained 22 points to 2837.

On the upside

The Wall Street Journal reported that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has engaged in discussions to acquire InterDigital (Nasdaq: IDCC).

Shares of Barclays (NYSE: BCS), Governor and Company of The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) and Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG) all rose as European leaders drafted new proposals to contain the spreading debt crisis.

Second quarter earnings more than tripled for Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI) to top analyst estimates as revenue climbed.

On the downside

LM Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERIC) reported higher second quarter earnings but the results fell far short of expectations.

Second quarter earnings rose for Safeway (NYSE: SWY) but the grocery store chain's full year outlook disappointed.

American Airlines parent AMR (NYSE: AMR) blamed higher fuel expenses for widening second quarter losses more than expected.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 7 points to 839.