On the upside
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) posted lower earnings due to the housing slump, but business unrelated to real estate continued to grow.
Roche offered $89 a share for the remainder of Genentech (NYSE: DNA) that the Swiss pharmaceutical maker does not own. Investors are betting on an even higher offer with the weak dollar making U.S. businesses look affordable to foreign companies.
Shares of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) surged after an analyst upgraded the insurance sector.
On the downside
Surgical products maker ArthroCare (Nasdaq: ARTC) may restate earnings and revenues from 2006 and 2007. The stock promptly sold off.Toymaker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) posted higher 2nd quarter profits and revenues, but the stock edged lower on continued worries of the impact of a slowing U.S. economy.
Shares of Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) fell after the Internet portal reached an accord to end a battle for control by adding Carl Icahn and two additional members to Yahoo's board.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a
margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by 2 to 1 on
Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 695.