Despite a drop in consumer spending, the markets closed modestly higher on a shortened trading day as crude oil prices fell. The Dow gained 49 points to 8468 while Nasdaq added 3 points to 1525.
On the upside
Valley National Bancorp (NYSE: VLY) will replace FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR) on the S&P MidCap 400 after market close today while FLIR will replace National City (NYSE: NCC) on the S&P 500.Although Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) widened first quarter losses, revenue topped estimates.
Bargain hunters snapped up shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM).
On the downside
Shares of KV Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: KV-A) continued falling after the company recalled one production lot of a painkiller and halted shipments of all tablet drugs yesterday.
Standard & Poor's downgraded General Growth Properties' (NYSE: GGP) credit rating.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 470.