Investors greeted news that the economy expanded, although at a slower pace, by boosting the markets higher during the midday with the Dow surging 125 points to 10,111. Nasdaq climbed 24 points to 2142.
On the upside
Two analyst upgraded SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) citing strong revenue growth.
The bidding war between Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) for 3Par (NYSE: PAR)lifted shares of rival data storage firm Compellent Technologies (NYSE: CML).
Micros Systems (Nasdaq: MCRS) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations as revenue climbed.
On the downside
Shares of A-Power Energy (Nasdaq: APWR) continued falling after reporting second quarter earnings that fell far short of analyst expectations yesterday.
Frontline (NYSE: FRO) warned that third quarter results will drop sequentially and said that an increasing supply of oil tankers will negatively impact earnings.
Shares of Guess (NYSE: GES) continued falling after lowering its full year guidance Wednesday after market close.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 8 points to 607.