The markets turned positive during the midday with the Dow rising 22 points to 12,040 even as oil prices increased. Nasdaq added a point to 2685.

On the upside

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) reversed year ago losses to post a better than expected profit for the first quarter as customer payment improved.

Western Refining (NYSE: WNR) will present at Barclays Capital 2011 High Yield Bond and Syndicated Loan Conference on Thursday March 24 in Orlando, Florida.

Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) adopted a Stockholder Rights Plan.

On the downside

Seeking Alpha contributor Ian Bezek questioned Yongye International's (Nasdaq: YONG) financial report.

Prana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PRAN) announced a private placement of stocks and warrants to raise approximately $6.12 million.

Duoyuan Global Water (NYSE: DGW) reported higher fourth quarter earnings but margins fell.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 807.