A surprise increase in pending sales of existing homes lifted the markets during the midday with
the
Dow gaining 41 points to 12,343. Nasdaq soared 28 points to
2793.
On the upside
Third quarter earnings for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) nearly tripled to surpass analyst expectations by a wide margin as sales of the company's Keurig brewing systems surged.
Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) widened second quarter losses but revenue climbed to beat analyst expectations.
Fairfax Financial and WL Ross & Co. each acquired a 9% stake in Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) while The Capital Group bought a 6% share.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Genzyme's contingent value rights (Nasdaq: GCVRZ) holders are unlikely to receive payments from parent company Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) as production delays plagued manufacturing facilities.
TriQuint Semiconductor (Nasdaq: TQNT) disappointed with lower second quarter earnings and forecast third quarter results well below analyst estimates.
Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM) reported higher second quarter earnings but the results fell short of analyst expectations and the company forecast current quarter results below estimates.