U.S. stocks traded higher Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 58 points to 10482, the S&P 500 grew 8.4 points to 1111 and the Nasdaq Composite increased 16 points to 2286. Among the companies whose shares are actively trading in the session are FedEx Corp. (FDX), Noah Education Holdings Ltd. (NED) and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX). FedEx ($83.10, +$4.14, +5.24%) boosted its earnings predictions for the fiscal first quarter and rest of the year, with the shipping giant saying express and ground volumes have been higher than it anticipated. Rival United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS, $64.82, +$1.15, +1.81%) also traded higher. Noah Education ($2.86, -$0.56, -16.37%), a maker of education electronic devices in China, projected fiscal fourth-quarter revenue less than half of what it had called for in May, blaming distribution woes. Onyx Pharmaceuticals ($25.64, +$4.14, +19.26%) reported positive results from a midstage study of its proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib, used to treat multiple myeloma. As a result, the drug company expects to submit a new-drug application by year's end for "potential accelerated approval" from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The board of BP PLC (BP, $38.70, +$1.84, +4.99%) is negotiating the departure of its embattled chief executive, Tony Hayward, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal, in a bid by the U.K. oil titan to move beyond the Gulf of Mexico disaster that has undercut his three-year effort to remake the company. BP said Monday that no decisions have yet been made on the future of Hayward or the final charge the company will book for the Gulf oil spill in its second quarter results Tuesday. Other Stocks In Focus: Alberto-Culver Co.'s (ACV, $30.35, +$0.95, +3.23%) fiscal third-quarter earnings jumped 69% amid a dispute-related gain as the personal-care and household products company continued to see sales growth for its hair-care products and commodity costs decline. The results beat analysts' expectations. Barclays Capital said legislation supporting electric vehicles in the U.S. and growing demand worldwide has it expecting battery maker A123 Systems Inc. (AONE, $10.74, +$1.32, +14.01%) to have a "very robust" outlook over the next few years when it reports in two weeks, upgrading the shares to overweight from equalweight. Meanwhile, the firm started coverage on Ener1 Inc. (HEV, $3.34, +$0.11, +3.25%) at equalweight, as it's also likely to benefit from growing electric-vehicle demand but has a worse-off balance sheet. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, $7.97, +$0.15, +1.92%) launched a tender offer for up to $800 milion of debt and concurrently said the chip maker plans to sell $500 million of longer-term notes in order to help fund the buyback. Alcoa Inc. (AA, $11.36, +$0.31, +2.76%) began tender offers for up $750 million in notes maturing over the next three years as part of a debt-refinancing effort. Fitch Ratings boosted its junk ratings on American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (AXL, $9.24, +$0.10, +1.12%) by a notch, citing the U.S. auto supplier's cost-cutting efforts and higher production from General Motors Corp. Wells Fargo cut its rating on American Medical Systems Holdings Inc. (AMMD, $22.09, -$0.80, -3.49%) to market perform from outperform, saying the stock is now fairly valued. The firm added there is some risk that the health products and services company's women's health business slows given results from some of its competitors. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC, $50.49, +$1.72, +3.53%) said Monday that it has made a significant discovery offshore Ghana. The discovery well at the Owo prospect in the Deepwater Tano Block encountered approximately 174 net feet of high-quality oil pay, with the oil appearing to be light crude of between 33 and 36 degrees of American Petroluem Institute gravity, the energy company said in a statement. Cal-Maine Foods Inc.'s (CALM, $33.60, +$3.91, +13.17%) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled, beating analysts' estimates, amid higher average selling prices and lower feed costs. CBOE Holdings Inc. (CBOE, $26.54, -$0.61, -2.25%) shares fell Monday--just over a month after the company went public--as several Wall Street analysts initiated coverage of the stock; most agreed that the exchange's dominant position in options is a key asset, but said competition and light trading volume will keep a lid on already pricey shares. (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires July 26, 2010 13:06 ET (17:06 GMT)
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