Business confidence in Germany surged to allay investors concerns about the health of the European economy. The markets extended their gains during the midday with the Dow jumping 190 points to 10,853 while Nasdaq leaped 48 points to 2375.
On the upside
Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) will not increase its offer for Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG). Avis (NYSE: CAR) raised its bid yesterday above Hertz's last offer.
ING U. S. (NYSE: ING) chief executive Robert Leary will discuss retirement and life insurance planning in a keynote speech to the U. S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce National Convention tomorrow evening, Saturday September 25.
Shares of business software company SciQuest (Nasdaq: SQI) surged on its first trading day.
On the downside
Oncothyreon (Nasdaq: ONTY) priced its private placement offering of 4.24 units at $3.50 per unit.
New Oriental Education and Technology Group (NYSE: EDU) announced preliminary first quarter results that missed expectations by a wide margin.
The New York Stock Exchange Regulation accepted Jackson Hewitt Tax Service's (NYSE: JTX) plan to remain listed on the exchange but the stock price fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 1 and by nearly 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 15 points to 664.
