Continued expansion of the nation's services sector lifted that markets sharply higher during the midday with the Dow soaring 179 points to 10,931. Nasdaq surged 51 points to 2395.
On the upside
Navistar (NYSE: NAV) received an $18.9 million contract to provide 38 heavy truck tractors to the U. S. Navy.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Edward Aaron lifted his price target for Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) citing improving sales.
Jamba Juice (Nasdaq: JMBA) and Nestle are finalizing details for the renewal of their partnership to develop and market ready-to-drink beverages.
On the downside
Craig-Hallum analyst Jeff Van Rhee downgraded JDA Software (Nasdaq: JDAS) and lowered his price target due to deal delays and a breach of contract suit against the company.
Russian telecommunications company Vimpelcom (NYSE: VIP) will pay approximately $6.6 billion in cash and stock to acquire Weather Investments' Wind Telecomunicazioni in Italy and Orascom Telecom in Egypt.
Lending Processing Services (NYSE: LPS) denied media characterizations that its document preparation practices for the assignment of mortgages were not within industry standards.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 1 on Nasdaq.
