Upbeat earnings lifted the markets to a modestly higher close with the Dow climbing 34 points to 11,671. Nasdaq gained 9 points to 2716.
On the upside
An appeals court in New York ruled that MBIA's (NYSE: MBI) restructuring plan was legally valid.
OCZ Technology Group (Nasdaq: OCZ) widened third quarter losses due to charges but revenue soared.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center awarded EMCORE (Nasdaq: EMKR) a contract valued at approximately $10 million to provide solar panels for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission.
On the downside
UBS downgraded American Airlines parent AMR (NYSE: AMR) citing the ongoing dispute between the airliner and online travel sites.
Gaming revenue along the Las Vegas Strip dropped 4.1% in November to weigh down shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) and Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD).
Tuesday Morning (Nasdaq: TUES) disappointed with lower second quarter earnings as same store sales dropped.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 3 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 3 points to 794.
