A drop in jobless claims lifted the markets during the midday with the Dow rising 37 points to 13,231. Nasdaq gained 12 points to 3053.
On the upside
TowerStream (Nasdaq: TWER) reported a smaller than expected loss for the fourth quarter.
Shares of CSX (NYSE: CSX) rose after Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Justin Yagerman said that investors oversold railroad stocks when coal demand fell.
Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) named Lawrence Metzroth to the position of vice president of business development and market intelligence in Asia-Pacific and named Andrew Blumenfeld as vice president of analysis and strategy.
On the downside
KIT digital (Nasdaq: KITD) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the fourth quarter but warned that the company will not generate positive free cash flow in the first quarter.
Cantor downgraded Eagle Bulk Shipping (Nasdaq: EGLE) from Hold to a Sell rating after the company said that it had an oversupply of vessels.
Interxion Holdings (NYSE: INXN) shareholder Chianna Investment distributed approximately 10 million shares to Baker Communications Fund partners.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 4 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 5 points to 828.