Markets advance over bank earnings

The markets continued rising during the midday with the Dow gaining 69 points to 16,390 over upbeat bank earnings. Nasdaq climbed 37 points to 4,251.

On the upside

Rising iron ore prices lifted shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (Nasdaq: CLF).

Declining new cases of Ebola boosted shares of American Airlines (Nasdaq: AAL).

Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported higher third quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst estimates and announced plans to exit the consumer banking business in 11 markets.

On the downside

Wunderlich downgraded NetScout Systems (Nasdaq: NTCT) from a Hold rating to a Buy rating.

Concerns about the high price of Gilead Sciences' (Nasdaq: GILD) newly approved hepatitis C treatment weighed down shares of the biopharmaceutical.

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) reported higher third quarter earnings but investors were disappointed that the results merely met expectations rather than exceeded expectations.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 17 points to 1892. Bitcoin rose $11 to $401.