Reports that France and Germany agreed to increase the rescue package for troubled European nations lifted the markets to a sharply higher close with the Dow soaring 180 points to 11,577. Nasdaq surged 42 points to 2657.
On the upside
Compass Point upgraded Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) to a Neutral rating from Sell.
State Street (NYSE: STT) reported higher third quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations.
Halozyme Therapeutics (Nasdaq: HALO) reported positive results from a late stage clinical trial of its breast cancer treatment Herceptin.
On the downside
Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) reported higher third quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates but the stock price dropped.
Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM) warned that third quarter earnings will fall short of analyst expectations.
Profit taking weighed down shares of Sequenom (Nasdaq: SQNM).
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 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 20 points to 709.