The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow climbing 81 points to 15,384 as pending home sales rose to a three year high. Nasdaq soared 31 points to 3498.
On the upside
Avago Technologies (Nasdaq: AVGO) reported lower second quarter earnings and revenue but the results were better than expected and the chipmaker forecast current quarter revenue ahead of estimates.
Soaring gold prices lifted shares of AuRico Gold (NYSE: AUQ), Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), Harmony Gold (NYSE: HMY) and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC).
Amarin (Nasdaq: AMRN) reported additional upbeat data from a Phase 3 ANCHOR study of Vascepa at the National Lipid Association 2013 Annual Scientific Session.
On the downside
First quarter earnings fell for Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) prompting the discount retailer to cut its full year earnings and revenue outlook.
ARCA biopharma (Nasdaq: ABIO) priced its public offering of preferred stock and warrants.
Hanwa SolarOne (Nasdaq: HSOL) narrowed first quarter losses as revenue climbed but the stock price fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index climbed 11 points to 1659.
