Construction of new homes rose in March to lift the markets to a higher close with the Dow climbing 65 points to 12,266. Nasdaq gained 9 points to 2744.
On the upside
CDC (Nasdaq: CHINA) unit CDC Global Services will sponsor a one-day conference with the Zhangzhou government on "The Application of Information Technology in the Food Processing Industry."
Shares of E-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) climbed on news that Renren, the Facebook of China, will debut on the New York Stock Exchange on May 4.
Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) will begin selling Barnes & Noble's (NYSE: BKS) Nook Color e-reader.
On the downside
Toreador Resources (Nasdaq: TRGL) announced the resignation of chairman Dr. Peter J. Hill.
Investors locked-in profits on Identive Group (Nasdaq: INVE), whose shares rose yesterday after announcing that the company will provide 10,000 eHealth terminals to Germany.
Badger Media (NYSE: BMI) disappointed with sharply lower first quarter earnings as sales fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE while advancers edged out decliners by a slim margin on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 823.
