Upbeat Earnings And Home Sales Lift Markets To Higher Close

Upbeat earnings along with better than expected sales of new homes lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow climbing 119 points to 8076. Nasdaq jumped 42 points to 1694.

On the upside

While Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA) posted flat first quarter earnings, revenue rose prompting an upgrade.

Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK) swung to a wider than expected loss for the first quarter as revenue fell but the floor covering products maker forecast second quarter results well ahead of estimates.

Better than expected sales of new homes last month lifted shares of homebuilder Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH).

On the downside

First quarter earnings for Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) plunged as demand tumbled and the company forecast disappointingly low full year results.

Invesco (NYSE: IVZ) disappointed with first quarter earnings that plummeted as revenue plunged by nearly 40%.

Robert W. Baird analyst Eric Coldwell downgraded IMS Health (NYSE: RX) saying that the company's revenue will most likely fall short of estimates.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 12 points to 478.