Consumer confidence surged above analyst expectations to a reading of 56.0 in November to lift the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 81 points to 11,604. Nasdaq rose 10 points to 2537.

On the upside

Bernstein Research analyst Pierre Ferragu upgraded Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) to a Market Perform rating from Underperform.  

Shares of rival airlines Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), United Continental (NYSE: UAL) and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) all rose after American Airlines parent AMR (NYSE: AMR) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 

Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX) lifted its second quarter revenue guidance to top analyst estimates.

On the downside

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported sharply higher third quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations but the company forecast current quarter results below estimates. 

Transocean (NYSE: RIG) will raise capital through a public offering of 26 million common shares. 

Corning (Nasdaq: GLW) warned of lower glass demand and cut its earnings outlook for the current quarter.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE while decliners barely edged out advancers by a slim margin on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks edged up a fraction to 698.