While first time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week, the four week moving average fell to a two and a half year low. The market opened higher with the Dow climbing 91 points to 12,243. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 2597.
On the upside
Fushi Copperweld (Nasdaq: FSIN) received a revised offer from chairman and co-chief executive Li Fu and Abax Global Capital to take the company private for $9.50 per share in cash.
JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) will supply Solarhybrid with 19 megawatts of solar modules for its Allstedt I solar power plant.
A Seeking Alpha contributor wrote on Tuesday that Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq: PEIX) was one of six stocks under $10 that was poised to double in 2012.
On the downside
Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) blamed soft demand for lowering its phosphate output by up to 250,000 tons.
Silver and gold prices continued falling to weigh down shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL), Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC) and Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW).
Goldman Sachs issued a research note warning that Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) sales growth in the current holiday quarter may fall short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 5 points to 740.
