Benzinga Mid-Morning Market Update

Following the market opening Thursday morning, the Dow traded up 0.36 percent to 13,542.67, while the NASDAQ was up 0.16 percent to 3,140.36. The S&P was also on the rise, increasing 0.38 percent to 1,456.43. Analysts gave partial credit for the rally to Mitt Romney's positive performance in the presidential debate Wednesday night, and to some positive activity in Spain this morning that showed the country may not need as much aid as previously thought. Early in Thursday morning, trade volumes have been relatively low, with a larger portion of trading occurring with the falling equities than those rising. Mattress Firm Holding Corp MFRM traded up 3.35 percent to $31.19 following the announcement for the pricing of its 4.73 million share offering. Arch Coal ACI also traded up, increasing 4.52 percent to $6.48 following, possibly linked to Romney's positive performance in the presidential debates and his support of the coal industry. Kraft Foods Group KRFT traded up 3.41 percent to $46.40 following its spin off from its parent company, now trading as Mondelez International MDLZ. Nuvasive NUVA took a big hit in early trading, falling 32.85 percent to $15.19 following its lowering of guidance and subsequent downgrades by a slew of analysts. Informatica Corporation INFA also fell, dropping 22.72 percent to $25.99 after the company posted preliminary earnings that came in below analyst estimates. HMS Holdings HMSY dropped as well, falling 9.99 percent to $29.02 after it lowered its 2012 guidance after the close wednesday In economic news, initial jobless claims came in at 367 thousand, higher than the previous figure of 363 thousand, but slightly below the estimated 370 thousand, while continuing jobless claims came in at 3.281 million, slightly worse than the expected 3.275 million, and equal to the previous figure. Factory orders were also reported, coming in at -5.2 percent, better than the expected -5.9 percent, but much worse than the prior figure of 2.6 percent.