Standard & Poor's affirmed its AAA rating for France to lift the markets higher during the midday with the Dow climbing 92 points to 11,873. Nasdaq added 2 points to 2624.
On the upside
Flotek Industries (NYSE: FTK) reversed year ago losses to post a better than expected profit for the third quarter as revenue nearly doubled.
Heckmann (NYSE: HEK) swung to a profit for the third quarter as revenue surged.
EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) reported higher second quarter earnings as revenue rose.
On the downside
Rising crude oil prices weighed down shares of Delta Air Lines (Nasdaq: DAL).
Delta Petroleum (Nasdaq: DPTR) swung to a loss for the third quarter and may consider filing for bankruptcy protection.
Silver Standard Resources (Nasdaq: SSRI) swung to a third quarter profit but disclosed that its mineral resources and reserve at the Pirquitas mine in Argentina fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 9 points to 728.