GDP Expands More Than Expected, Markets Close Up

February 26, 2010 at 15:40 PM EST

Despite drops in consumer sentiment and home sales, the markets closed above the flatline with the Dow adding 4 points to 10,325 as the nation's economy expanded at a greater than expected pace in the fourth quarter. Nasdaq rose 4 points to 2238.

On the upside

Aetna (NYSE: AET) will now cover NuVasive's (Nasdaq: NUVA) XLIF spinal surgery procedure.

Deutsche Bank upgraded China Unicom (NYSE: CHU).

Deckers (Nasdaq: DECK) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that beat expectations and forecast 2010 results ahead of estimates.

On the downside

Rockwell Medical's (Nasdaq: RMTI) treatment for anemia in chronic hemodialysis patients failed a mid-stage clinical trial.

Weight Watchers International (NYSE: WTW) reported higher fourth quarter earnings but forecast 2010 results below expectations.

Bancorp South (NYSE: BXS) may have to adjust fourth quarter earnings downwards that were reported on January 21, 2010.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 3 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by more than 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped a point to 628.