Upbeat economic data along with plans by the European Central Bank to purchase bonds lifted the markets to a sharply higher close with the Dow rocketing 244 points to 13,292. Nasdaq leaped 66 points to 3135.
On the upside
Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD) chairman Eddie Lampert purchased 2.4 million shares of company stock.
Integrated Device Technology (Nasdaq: IDTI) introduced the world's first NVM Express enterprise non-volatile DRAM controller.
Merge Healthcare (Nasdaq: MRGE) retained the services of Allen & Co. to explore strategic options including the possible sale of the company.
On the downside
Stifel Nicolaus downgraded MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX) to a Hold rating. Wolverine Worldwide (NYSE: WWW) blamed the European economic crisis for warning that third quarter results may fall short of expectations.
Trina Solar (Nasdaq: TSL) denied allegations of dumping solar products on the European market.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 16 points to 837.
Markets Soar On Upbeat Data
September 06, 2012 at 18:00 PM EDT
