Stocks edged higher after yesterday's sell-off as investors eyed declines in corporate earnings. The Dow rose 34 points to 8183 while Nasdaq climbed 13 points to 1411.
On the upside
Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) reported lower 3rd quarter profits, but the results for the world's largest office supplier beat Wall Street estimates.Shares of Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD) edged higher after the struggling retailer posted a bigger-than-expected loss for the 3rd quarter. The company also withdrew its operating profit outlook due to uncertain consumer spending.
Medicis Pharmaceutical (NYSE: MRX) settled a patent dispute over a generic acne drug with Impax Laboratories.
On the downside
Shares of Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) fell to a 2-year low after rival Nokia (NYSE: NOK) unveiled a $700 touch screen phone. Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) which makes a competing iPhone also lost ground.
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) dropped as investors prepared for the investment bank's first quarterly loss. Some analysts target a loss of as much as $2 billion.
Biotech company XenoPort (Nasdaq: XNPT) reported disappointing results for its midstage trial of its reflux disease drug treatment.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 5 points to 422.
