The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow climbing 81 points to 13,410 as retails sales rose more than expected in September. Nasdaq gained 12 points to 3056.
On the upside
A group led by Yongye International (Nasdaq: YONG) chief executive Zishen Wu offered to take the company private for a premium of $6.60 per share.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) reported high cure rates in patients using a regimen of oral hepatitis C drugs.
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) reported positive results from a Phase III study of its metatastic gastric cancer treatment ramucirumab.
On the downside
Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) will release third quarter results on Tuesday, October 23.
Harris (NYSE: HRS) received $15 million worth of orders from a Latin American country but the stock price dropped.
Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) announcement of its new Xbox Music service weighed down shares of Pandora (NYSE: P).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 825.
Rising Retail Sales Lift Markets
October 15, 2012 at 13:33 PM EDT
