Industrial production rose modestly to lift the markets to a higher close with the Dow gaining 46 points to 10,572. Nasdaq climbed 11 points to 2301.
On the upside
The Interior Department will require gas and oil companies to plug 3,500 wells in the Gulf of Mexico that have been idle for five or more years. Shares of offshore oilfield services providers Global Industries (Nasdaq: GLBL), Cal Dive International (NYSE: DVR) and Tetra Technologies (NYSE: TTI) all climbed.
FormFactor (Nasdaq: FORM) shipped its 300th unit of TouchMatrix and SmartMatrix advanced wafer probe cards.
Union members at Harley-Davidson's (NYSE: HOG) Wisconsin factory approved a new labor contract that will save the motorcycle company $50 million annually beginning in 2013.
On the downside
German solar inverter maker SMA Solar warned that margins will drop in 2011 sending shares of rival Power-One (Nasdaq: PWER) tumbling.
ACCO Brands (NYSE: ABD) subsidiary ACCO Brands Canada extended the lease for its 200,000 square foot manufacturing plant, distribution center and administrative headquarters but the stock price fell.
Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) cut its full year outlook as home sales disappoint.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by a margin of more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 3 points to 652.
