The markets opened higher with the Dow rising 22 points to 12,877 despite J.P. Morgan's $2 billion loss as pending home sales climbed. Nasdaq gained 19 points to 2953.
On the upside
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended approval for Arena Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: ARNA) obesity treatment Lorcaserin.
Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) reported lower first quarter earnings and revenue but the results were better than expected and the chipmaker forecast current quarter revenue ahead of estimates.
First quarter earnings fell for McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) but the results surpassed analyst expectations by a wide margin.
On the downside
J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) disclosed a $2 billion trading loss.
Roundy's (NYSE: RNDY) reported sharply lower first quarter earnings and warned that same store sales will drop this year prompting a downgrade.
GSV Capital (Nasdaq: GSVC) priced its follow-on offering of 6 million common shares at the discounted price of $16.25 per share.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 9 to 7 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 791.
