The markets recovered in the afternoon to close modestly higher with the Dow gaining 32 points to 11,382 as construction spending fell less than expected. Nasdaq climbed 12 points to 2305.
Bargain hunters lifted shares of American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE: AXL). Yesterday, Fitch Ratings lowered its rating for the auto parts supplier citing declining sales of large pickups and SUVs.
The first shipment of liquid food waste was delivered to Converted Organics' (Nasdaq: COIN) new fertilizer processing facility in New Jersey.
Shares of Colonial Bancgroup (NYSE: CNB) recovered after falling yesterday when Russell Investments moved the financial services firm from the large cap Russell 1000 to the small cap Russell 2000.
On the downside
Valence Technology (Nasdaq: VLNC) reported a quarterly loss.SuperGen (Nasdaq: SUPG) reported that its bone marrow disorder medication Dacogen failed a late stage clinical trial.
Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) announced that it will move $107 million from its bond insurance business to its mortgage insurance unit.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 692.
