Small Business Sentiment Rises, Markets Advance
September 11, 2012 at 05:29 AM EDT
The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow climbing 81 points to 13,335 as sentiment among small business owners rose in August. Nasdaq gained 6 points to 3110.On the upsideBargain hunters lifted shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) whose stock price fell yesterday after a downgrade. MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) reported $2.5 billion worth of new insurance written and a drop in delinquent mortgages in August.Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) introduced a new generation, energy efficient server.On the downsidePalo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) reported a loss for the fourth quarter. The Food and Drug Administration delayed its decision to grant New Chemical Entity status to Amarin’s (Nasdaq: AMRN) Vascepa.Robert W. Baird downgraded Coomplete Genomics (Nasdaq: GNOM) to a Neutral rating.In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 3 points to 843.
