Wholesale inventories surged by a greater than expected 1.6% in July to lift the markets higher during the midday with the Dow gaining 28 points to 10,443. Nasdaq eased a fraction to 2235.
On the upside
Allos Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ALTH) will present data from a Phase 2b clinical trial of its lung cancer treatment Folotyn at the 35th European Society of Medical Oncology Congress in October.
The Food and Drug Administration completed its inspection of K-V Pharmaceutical's (NYSE: KV-A) facilities and approved the return of K-V's products to market after nearly two years.
Bank of America analyst Douglas Becker issued a note saying that Transocean (NYSE: RIG) may not be liable for any damages from the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
On the downside
Lattice Semiconductor (Nasdaq: LSCC) affirmed its third quarter outlook but the stock price fell.
Neutral Tandem (Nasdaq: TNDM) will pay approximately $94.9 million in cash to acquire Italian IP Transit and Ethernet company Tinet SpA.
An explosion from a PG&E (NYSE: PCG) gas transmission line in the city of San Bruno killed at least four people and destroyed 53 homes.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE while deliners edged out advancers by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks edged up a fractin to 635.