Financial News

LONDON (ShareCast) - US shares have not held on to all their early gains but they remain well up on the day.

The US is following the strong Hong Kong market which ended a four-day losing streak today. European markets were also strong.

The Dow Jones is up 117 at 10,436, the Nasdaq (NASDAQ: news) is 26 higher at 2,172, while the broader S&P 500 added 16 points to 1,107. US markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving.

US existing home sales surged 10.1% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1m units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

JPMorgan Chase upgraded insurers Cigna (NYSE: CI - news) and WellPoint (NYSE: WLP - news) from neutral to overweight.

News Corp is said to have held discussions with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) about a partnership that could result in News Corp. removing its newspaper content from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG - news) 's search engine.

Shares in biotech Cephalon (NASDAQ: CEPH - news) slumped because its anti-inflammation drug Cinquil did no better than a placebo in tests.

Fibre-optic equipment supplier Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN - news) was another big faller after it succeeded in an auction to buy Nortel Networks' optical networking business. Morgan Keegan cut its recommendation to "market perform."

S&P 500 - Risers Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION - news) (ZION) $14.27 +13.71% Cigna Corp. (CI) $32.24 +7.36% Regions Financial Corp (NYSE: RF - news) . (RF) $5.77 +5.87% Nabors Inds Inc. (NBR) $20.73 +4.54% Wellpoint Inc. (WLP) $54.48 +4.49% Suntrust Banks (NYSE: STI - news) (STI) $23.00 +4.36% Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) $26.36 +4.27% Marshall & Ilsley (MI) $5.58 +4.10% N Y Times Class A (NYT) $9.00 +4.05% Coventry Hlth Care (CVH) $23.43 +3.97%

S&P 500 - Fallers Cephalon Inc. (CEPH) $53.80 -9.74% Ciena Corp. (CIEN) $12.03 -8.66% People's United Financial Inc. (PBCT) $15.87 -3.64% Dynegy Inc (NYSE: DYN - news) . Holdings Co (DYN) $1.86 -2.11% KB Home (NYSE: KBH - news) (KBH) $13.84 -1.98% The Hershey Company (HSY) $36.51 -1.80% Macy's Inc. (M) $16.90 -1.23% Tyson Foods Inc. Class A (TSN) $12.91 -1.22% Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: SHLD - news) . (SHLD) $71.93 -0.98% Legg Mason Inc (NYSE: LM - news) . (LM) $29.25 -0.97%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX - news) . (CVX) $79.05 +2.97% General Electric Co. (GE) $15.94 +2.26% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $31.09 +2.18% Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM - news) . (XOM) $75.91 +2.06% Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT - news) . (CAT) $59.05 +1.90% Boeing Co (NYSE: BA - news) . (BA) $52.68 +1.90% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $43.25 +1.86% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $62.93 +1.82% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $30.56 +1.82% Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $50.88 +1.68%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers Merck (MERK.JK - news) & Co. Inc. (MRK) $36.34 -0.33% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $63.90 -0.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers Nii Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: NIHD - news) . (NIHD) $30.79 +6.10% Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC) $77.38 +3.28% Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) $7.40 +3.24% Ebay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY - news) . (EBAY) $23.49 +3.07% Ryanair Holdings Plc Adr (RYAAY) $27.00 +2.86% Steel Dynamics Inc. (STLD) $16.61 +2.85% Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ: ADSK - news) . (ADSK) $24.47 +2.75% Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL - news) . (DELL) $14.68 +2.74% Express Scripts Inc (NASDAQ: ESRX - news) . (ESRX) $87.33 +2.64% CA Inc. (CA) $22.43 +2.61%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Cephalon Inc. (CEPH) $53.80 -9.74% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $25.86 -3.54% Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $71.93 -0.98% Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $31.90 -0.87% Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $14.90 -0.77% Hologic Inc (NASDAQ: HOLX - news) . (HOLX) $14.38 -0.07% Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS) $17.29 -0.06%