The markets retreated from early morning highs but continued trading in positive territory with the Dow climbing 79 points to 9070 as crude oil prices fell and the gross domestic product posted a smaller than expected drop of 0.3% for the third quarter. Nasdaq gained 15 points to 1672.
On the upside
Brocade Communication System (Nasdaq: BRCD) and Foundry Networks (Nasdaq: FDRY) agreed on a lowered acquisition price of $2.6 billion, down from $3 billion.OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) pre-released third quarter results that were better than expected and said that its exposure to Lehman Brothers was limited.
Russian mining and steel company Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL) cited the global financial crisis for lowering its capital expenditure program.
On the downside
Global Industries (Nasdaq: GLBL) swung to a loss for the third quarter despite higher revenue.While Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) reported sharply higher second quarter earnings that nearly tripled, the maker of the Norton computer security software forecast third quarter results below expectations.
Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG) swung to a massive $2.6 billion loss for the third quarter due to significant investment losses and slashed its full year outlook.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 7 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 6 points to 496.
