The markets traded modestly higher during the midday even as crude oil prices spiked and Saudi Arabia may not be able to increase its oil production. The Dow added 4 points to 12,311 while Nasdaq climbed 23 points to 2477.
On the upside
Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq: ENER) announced last week that it will offer 4.7 million shares of common stock and $225 million in convertible senior notes to raise capital to expand production.AmTech Research upgraded Amkor Technology (Nasdaq: AMKR) to a Buy rating.
Bargain hunters lifted shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), which tumbled last week when Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kent removed the operator of hotels and casinos from his recommended stock list.
On the downside
Acadia Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: ACAD) schizophrenia treatment ACP-104 failed a midstage clinical trial.Credit Suisse downgraded Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE: PPC) saying that stagnant chicken prices along with rising feed costs will impact earnings.
Textron (NYSE: TXT) blamed disappointing earnings from its finance unit for lowering the high end of its second quarter guidance.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 735.
