On the upside
Second quarter earnings for SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI) fell due to higher loan loss provisions but the results surpassed expectations.
Shares of South Financial Group (Nasdaq: TSFG) surged ahead of its earnings release after market close.
UAL (Nasdaq: UAUA) blamed a non-cash special accounting charge for its second quarter loss. Shares of the parent company of United Airlines surged after announcing an infusion of $1.7 billion in cash.
On the downside
Second quarter earnings for Sterling Bancshares (Nasdaq: SBIB) fell short of estimates because one of the bank's borrowers may be filing for bankruptcy.Merck (NYSE: MRK) reported higher second quarter earnings despite lower revenue as the company cut expenses. Analyst downgraded Merck when the company withheld its earnings forecasts.
Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) blamed weak sales for lowering its full year revenue outlook.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 19 points to 717.
