Agreement On Stimulus Plan Lifts Markets

News that the House and Senate have reached an agreement for a $789 billion economic stimulus plan lifted the markets to a modestly higher close with the Dow climbing 51 points to 7940. Nasdaq rose 6 points to 1531.

On the upside

Shares of YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW) rose after the transportation company said that expenses will be reduced with the completed integration of its Yellow and Roadway brands.

Higher treatment volume boosted fourth quarter earnings for DaVita (NYSE: DVA) to beat expectations.

Syniverse Holdings (NYSE: SVR) reported higher fourth quarter revenue and earnings.

On the downside

The Justice Department announced that it will review the proposed merger between Ticketmaster Entertainment (Nasdaq: TKTM) and Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) for possible antitrust issues.

Shares of Continental (NYSE: CAL) tumbled after Morgan Stanley lowered its outlook for the airline industry.

Although L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE: ID) reported higher fourth quarter revenue and income, the results fell short of analyst expectations.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 448.