A drop in first time applications for unemployment benefits lifted the markets to a modestly higher open with the Dow rising 25 points to 12,813. Nasdaq held steady at 2916. On the upside
Reports of strong sales of Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) Lumia 920 lifted shares of the beleaguered mobile device maker. A Seeking Alpha contributor recommended Sarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRPT) as a biopharmaceutical catalyst trade. Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) widened third quarter losses but the results were better than expected as revenue soared. On the downside Zale (NYSE: ZLC) reported a larger than expected loss for the first quarter. Fourth quarter earnings for Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) fell far short of analyst expectations. The Food and Drug Administration reported serious lapses in the testing and manufacture of a component in St. Jude Medical's (NYSE: STJ) heart device Durata. In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE while advancers edged out decliners by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks held steady at 793.