A drop in the September unemployment rate in 25 states boosted the markets higher during the midday with the Dow soaring 180 points to 11,722. Nasdaq climbed 20 points to 2619.
On the upside
Altera (Nasdaq: ALT) reported lower third quarter earnings and revenue but analysts maintained Buy ratings on the company.
Third quarter earnings slipped for Flextronics (Nasdaq: FLEX) but Citigroup lifted its price target to $7.
Synaptics (Nasdaq: SYNA) reported lower first quarter earnings but the results beat analyst expectations.
On the downside
Abbott Laboratories' (NYSE: ABT) reported positive interim results from a study of its hepatitis C treatment sending shares of rival Pharmasset (Nasdaq: VRUS) tumbling.
Calix (NYSE: CALX) widened third quarter losses.
Basic Energy Services (NYSE: BAS) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the third quarter but the stock price dropped.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 6 points to 702.
