Rising Homebuilder Confidence Lifts Markets

December 18, 2012 at 10:32 AM EST

Homebuilder confidence rose to lift the markets to a higher open with the Dow rising 29 points to 13,265. Nasdaq gained 16 points to 3027.
On the upside
Television ratings company Nielsen Holdings offered a premium of approximately $1.26 billion for radio ratings firm Arbitron (NYSE: ARB).
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) may partner with Verizon to sell its popular Lumia 920 smartphone.
Vanda (Nasdaq: VNDA) reported positive Phase III trial results for its Non-24-Hour Disorder treatment tasimelteon.
On the downside
RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS) priced its public offering of 9 million common shares at the discounted price of $5.75 per share. Galena Biopharma (Nasdaq: GALE) priced its public offering of more than 15 million units at the discounted price of $1.60 per unit.
CL King downgraded Smith & Wesson (Nasdaq: SWHC).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index rose 4 points to 1434.