The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow gaining 60 points to 15,285 on strong earnings. Nasdaq rose 14 points to 3499.
On the upside
Dynavax Technologies (Nasdaq: DVAX) named former Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) executive Natale Ricciardi to its board.
Zacks expects DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) to top earnings estimates this quarter.
Speculation swirled that activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman may invest in FedEx (NYSE: FDX).
On the downside
Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA) lowered its second quarter revenue outlook prompting downgrades.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) from an Equal Weight rating to an Underweight rating.
FX Energy (Nasdaq: FXEN) reported disappointing results from a Plawce-2 well test.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index gained 9 points to 1650.
