Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren affirmed the bond purchases last year by the Fed and said that the economy may need another round of stimulus spending. The markets traded higher during the midday with the Dow rising 56 points to 11,788 while Nasdaq gained 14 points to 2749.
On the upside
Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard expects Nanometrics (Nasdaq: NANO) to benefits as chip makers increase capital spending.
Shares of Novellus Systems (Nasdaq: NVLS) surged after Intel (NYSE: INTC) announced capital expenditures of $9 billion in 2011.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Cumberland Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: CPIX) acetaminophen poisoning treatment Acetadote after market close yesterday.
On the downside
FBR Capital downgraded Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) to a Market Perform rating.
Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) raised its coal shipment forecast for 2011 but it also expects the cost of coal sales to increase.
The Treasury Department said that American International Group (NYSE: AIG) has repaid $47 billion to the government and is on schedule to complete payments for the $182 billion in bailout funds that it received.
