A greater than expected drop in jobless claims boosted the markets during the midday with the Dow climbing 92 points to 15,993. Nasdaq soared 36 points to 3958.
On the upside
Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) reported higher third quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst estimates prompting the home products retailer to lift its full year outlook.
Cardiovascular Systems (Nasdaq: CSII) priced its public offering of approximately 2.6 million common shares at $30 per share.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) will offer Global Eagle Entertainment's (Nasdaq: ENT) Wi-Fi service to its passengers from gate to gate.
On the downside
SGOCO Group (Nasdaq: SGOC) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the third quarter as revenue surged but the stock price plunged as investors locked in profits.
TheStreet questioned study results released this morning by Oncolytics Biotech (Nasdaq: ONCY) for its head and neck cancer treatment Reolysin.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) from a Conviction Buy rating to a Neutral rating and lowered its price target from $103 to $95.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 11 points to 1793.
