An increase in May single family home prices lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 40 points to 15,562. Nasdaq climbed 21 points to 3620.
On the upside
Second quarter earnings more than doubled for Goodyear Tire (Nasdaq: GT) to beat analyst expectations by a wide margin as raw material expenses dropped.
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) widened second quarter losses but the stock price rose on news that the company was entering a joint venture with Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM).
The Food and Drug Administration granted marketing approval to Stereotaxis (Nasdaq: STXS) for its Vdrive Robotic Navigation System with V-Sono Intracardiac Echocardiography catheter manipulator.
On the downside
Shares of Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI), Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) and Potash (NYSE: POT) all plunged after Russian potash producer Uralkali withdrew from a joint venture and ended production limits.
Health Management Associates (Nasdaq: HMA) warned that second quarter results would fall short of analyst expectations. Rival Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) offered to purchase Health Management at the discounted price of approximately $3.9 billion.
Coach (NYSE: COH) disappointed with lower fourth quarter earnings that missed estimates.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index rose 5 points to 1691.
