The markets advanced in afternoon trading with the Dow climbing 102 points to 10,424 after upbeat results from European bank stress tests. Nasdaq gained 23 points to 2269.
On the upside
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sanofi-Aventis engaged Genzyme (Nasdaq: GENZ) in preliminary discussions to explore the possibility of acquiring the company.
The Department of Education announced new gainful employment regulations that were not as onerous as expected lifting shares of DeVry (NYSE: DV).
Align Technology (Nasdaq: ALGN) reported sharply higher second quarter income as revenue climbed.
On the downside
VCA Antech (Nasdaq: WOOF) reported higher second quarter income but the results fell short of estimates prompting a downgrade.
BancorpSouth (NYSE: BXS) disappointed with an unexpected loss for the second quarter as loan loss provisions nearly tripled.
Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WT) blamed higher loan loss provisions for widening second quarter losses.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 15 points to 650.
