Stocks Open Higher on Hopes of Economic Recovery

The markets opened higher as investors turned cautiously optimistic about signals that automotive and banking industries may be on the mend.  The Dow rose 46 points to 9217 while Nasdaq added 11 points to 1990.

On the upside

Ford (NYSE: F) is expected to report its first year-over-year gain in monthly auto sales due in part to the popularity of the "cash for clunkers" program to get consumers to upgrade to fuel-efficient cars.

Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from the board of directors of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) in a tacit acknowledgment of increasing overlaps between the two company's product lines.

Shares of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: KERX) rose after the FDA allowed the company to move forward with late-stage study of its cancer drug candidate.

An analyst upgraded Deltek (Nasdaq: PROJ) whose shares recently rallied.   The company provides project management business software.

On the downside

Shares of Huron Consulting Group (Nasdaq: HURN) tumbled in a dramatic fashion after the company lowered its guidance, announced that it would restate results, and accepted the resignations of its CEO and CFO. 

Savient Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SVNT) failed to win approval by the FDA for its drug treatment of chronic gout.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 5 points to 562.

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