The markets soared to a sharply higher open with the Dow leaping 196 points to 12,872 after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi suggested that the bank may purchase Spanish and Italian bonds. Nasdaq surged 41 points to 2895.
On the upside
Sprint (NYSE: S) widened second quarter losses but revenue rose to top analyst estimates prompting the wireless communications services provider to lift its full year outlook.
Fourth quarter earnings for Western Digital (Nasdaq: WDC) surged to surpass analyst expectations by a wide margin as revenue nearly doubled.
A Seeking Alpha contributor expects Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX) to report impressive earnings next week.
On the downside
Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA) disappointed by falling to a wider than expected loss for the second quarter and slashing its guidance for the full year prompting downgrades.
Second quarter earnings plunged for Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) to fall far short of expectations.
Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) reported sharply lower second quarter earnings and warned of soaring costs to build its Pascua-Lama gold mine.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 9 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 9 points to 778.
ECB May Purchase Bonds, Markets Soar At Open
July 26, 2012 at 10:43 AM EDT
