The markets traded higher during the midday with the Dow leaping 134 points to 12,767 as construction spending climbed in December. Nasdaq surged 36 points to 2849.
On the upside
Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and forecast 2012 profit ahead of estimates.
Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW) reversed year ago losses to post a better than expected profit for the fourth quarter as revenue climbed.
Fourth quarter earnings rose for Fortinet (Nasdaq: FTNT) to top analyst estimates as revenue climbed.
On the downside
JDA Software Group (Nasdaq: JDAS) fell to a loss for the fourth quarter and announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission requested financial information from the enterprise software solutions company.
Fourth quarter earnings fell for Unisys (NYSE: UIS) as revenue dropped.
Amazon.com's earnings miss weighed down shares of Chinese online retailer e-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 6 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 14 points to 807.
