Wholesale inventories and sales rose to lift the markets higher during the midday with the Dow gaining 73 points to 10,013. Nasdaq climbed 19 points to 2189.
On the upside
FSI International (Nasdaq: FSII) priced its offering of 5.4 million common shares at $3.05 per share.
American Capital (Nasdaq: ACAS) extended its exchange offer to June 9, 2010.
FelCor Lodging Trust (NYSE: FCH) will repay $177 million of debt at a significant discount.
On the downside
The U. S. Court of Appeals will rehear Rambus' (Nasdaq: RMBS) patent infringement suit against Hynix Semiconductor and Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU).
BP (NYSE: BP) must place a second containment cap over the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico in order to capture all the oil flowing from the well.
National Financial Partners (NYSE: NFP) will offer $230 million in senior covertible notes.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 9 points to 627.