The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow rising 14 points to 12,771 as a drop in December new home sales tempered strong corporate earnings. Nasdaq lost 7 points to 2811.

On the upside

J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) announced a new pricing strategy and logo and will redesign the layout of its stores.

US Airways (NYSE: LCC) retained the services of Millstein & Co., Barclays and Latham & Watkins to explore the possible acquisition of bankrupt American Airlines.

PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC) reported higher first quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates.

On the downside

An appeals court granted Amphastar a stay in a patent infringement suit filed by Momenta Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MNTA).

Carbo Ceramics (NYSE: CRR) reported higher fourth quarter earnings but the results fell far short of analyst expectations.

Fourth quarter earnings dropped for Covance (NYSE: CVD) as gross margin fell prompting a downgrade.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 3 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 794.