The markets opened sharply higher with the Dow surging 212 points to 11,22 as first time applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week and the nation's economy expanded at an annual pace of 1.3% in the second quarter. Nasdaq gained 16 points to 2507.
On the upside
National Mutual Insurance will pay a premium of approximately $1.63 billion to acquire Harleysville Group (Nasdaq: HGIC).
Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) expects profit at its Brazilian division to increase by 15% in 2012 and 2013.
Germany agreed to expand the rescue fund for troubled nations lifting shares of UBS (NYSE: UBS).
On the downside
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) blamed manufacturing problems at a German factory for lowering its third quarter revenue and earnings guidance.
BioDelivery Sciences International (Nasdaq: BDSI) reported disappointing results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of its chronic pain treatment BEMA Buprenorphine.
Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) fell after Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) introduced its Kindle Fire with Prime Instant Video streaming service yesterday available for the low price of $199.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 9 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 12 points to 664.
