A greater than expected drop in first time applications for unemployment benefits sent the markets soaring during the midday with the Dow leaping 152 points to 15,592. Nasdaq jumped 43 points to 4054.
On the upside
Yelp (NYSE: YELP) narrowed fourth quarter losses as revenue leaped and the online review site forecast current quarter and full year revenue ahead of expectations.
Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) narrowed fourth quarter losses more than expected even as revenue slipped.
Fourth quarter earnings dropped for Patterson-UTI Energy (Nasdaq: PTEN) due to charges related to its mechanically powered rig fleet but revenue rose and the company doubled its quarter cash dividend to 10 cents per share.
On the downside
Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR) fell to a loss for the fourth quarter.
Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) cut its 2014 capital expenditure by 20%.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a New York state regulator has halted Ocwen Financial's (NYSE: OCN) $2.7 billion bid to acquire mortgage servicing rights from Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 18 points to 1769. Bitcoin fell $75.23 or 8.82% to $852.77.
