Rising Consumer Sentiment Lifts Markets
August 17, 2012 at 05:32 AM EDT
The markets traded higher during the midday with the Dow adding 17 points to 13,267 as consumer sentiment climbed in early August. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 3069.On the upsideNokia (NYSE: NOK) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) are expected to introduce the Windows Phone 8 on the Lumia at a joint event on September 5. First quarter earnings slipped for J. M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM) but the results beat analyst expectations.Wedbush initiated coverage of Krispy Kreme (NYSE: KKD) with an Outperform rating.On the downsideEvercore Partners analyst Ken Sena downgraded Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) to an Underweight rating. PennyMac Mortgage (NYSE: PMT) priced its public offering of 15 million common shares at an undisclosed price.A jury found that ION Geophysical (NYSE: IO) infringed on WesternGeco patents and awarded $105.9 million to WesternGeco.In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 815.
