A surge in previously owned homes sales lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow gaining 59 points to 13,311. Nasdaq rose 6 points to 3050. On the upside
Steelcase (NYSE: SCS) reported higher third quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates. Seeking Alpha wrote that Roth Capital Partners analyst Scott R. Henry expects the Food and Drug Administration to approve Alexza Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: ALXA) agitation treatment Adasuve. Nasdaq accepted OCZ Technology's (Nasdaq: OCZ) plan to regain compliance with listing requirements. On the downside American Railcar (Nasdaq: ARII) may increase its offer to acquire Greenbrier (NYSE: GBX), but Greenbrier already issued a statement saying that the price undervalued the company.KB Home (NYSE: KBH) reported lower fourth quarter earnings and order growth that was below its competitors. Evercore Partners analyst Patrick Wang lowered his fourth quarter and full year estimates on Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD). In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index gained 7 points to 1443.