Despite disappointing earnings, bargain hunters lifted the markets modestly higher during the midday with the Dow rising 24 points to 8521. Nasdaq added 5 points to 1522.
On the upside
Shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) rose as Congress hashes out a bailout plan for the automotive industry.Reliant Energy (NYSE: RRI) will sell its electricity supply contracts in the Northeast to Hess Corp.
Shares of Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) rose even as Barclays Capital slashed its price target from $90 to $60 for the Blackberry maker.
On the downside
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) will increase its stake in China Construction Bank to 19.1%. Bank of America cannot sell these shares until August 29, 2011 without the consent of China Construction.
UBS analyst Brian MacArthur downgraded Alcoa (NYSE: AA), cut his price target on the aluminum maker and trimmed earnings estimates due to lower production and weak market conditions.
Analysts from Citigroup and Bernstein Research expect Goldman Sachs (Nasdaq: GS) to post significant losses for the fourth quarter.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 5 points to 462.
