Credit: Shutterstock photoFollowing the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.31 percent to 14,556.33 while the NASDAQ gained 0.41 percent to 3,258.20. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.47 percent to 1,564.17.
Index Technicals: The S&P 500 looks to be showing support at 1,545, with overhead resistance at 1,562.
The Dow is showing support at the 14,400 level, while holding its overhead resistance at 14,550.
The NASDAQ has support at 3,220 and resistance at 3,260.
Finally, the Russell is holding resistance at the 952 level, while 940 acting as support below that.
Top Headline Dollar General (NYSE: DG ) reported a rise in its fourth-quarter earnings.
Dollar General's quarterly earnings rose to $317 million, or $0.97 per share, from $293 million, or $0.85 per share, in the year-ago period. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.90 per share.
Its net sales gained 0.5% to $4.21 billion from $4.19 billion, while same-store sales climbed 3%.
Equities Trading UP Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL ) shot up 14.67 percent to $19.54 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results.
Shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ: VECO ) got a boost, shooting up 11.21 percent to $38.88 after analysts at Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock from "sell" to "buy."
Array BioPharma (NASDAQ: ARRY ) was also up, gaining 10.13 percent to $4.7247 after analysts at Piper Jaffray upgraded the stock from "neutral" to "overweight."
Equities Trading DOWN Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDIX ) shares tumbled 10.87 percent to $4.10 after the company lost its first phase of a patent dispute with Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD ).
BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY ) was also down, falling 6.30 percent to $13.97 after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from "buy" to "neutral."
Shares of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR ) were down 3.11 percent to $59.06 after after the FDA declined to approve its oral drug to treat hypertension.
Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 1.08 percent to $94.72, while gold traded down 0.62 percent to $1,598.00.
Silver traded up 0.08 percent Monday to $28.72, while copper fell 0.25 percent to $3.46.
Eurozone European shares were mostly higher in early trade following the Cyprus bailout as leaders averted another crisis.
The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.15 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.92 percent. The STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.55 percent, London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.54 percent, French CAC 40 Index surged 0.74 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.53 percent.
Economics The Chicago Fed National Activity Index climbed to +0.44 in February, versus a revised reading of -0.49 in January.
The Treasury is set to auction 4-week and 3-month bills.
New York Fed President William Dudley is set to speak at the Economic Club of New York and Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to speak alongside Bank of England Governor Mervyn King at the London School of Economics on lessons learned from the crisis.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
