Factory production rose last month to lift the markets to a higher close with the Dow gaining 56 points to 12,341. Nasdaq added 4 points to 2764.
On the upside
MicroVision (Nasdaq: MVIS) announced yesterday the opening of a research facility at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Ametek (NYSE: AME) lifted its first quarter and full year earnings outlook saying that aerospace instrument and devices orders climbed.
Citigroup added Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) to its list of Top Picks Live.
On the downside
J. P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz lowered his second quarter sales estimate for the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad citing shipping delays.
Chief executive Dan Hesse of Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), the nation's third largest wireless network operator, said that the merger of AT&T (NYSE: T) with T-Mobile will hurt innovation.
Putnam Premier (Nasdaq: PPT) declared the distribution rates for its closed end funds.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 7 points to 834.
