Stocks near even at midday
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are floating near the break-even mark at midday on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average is up 30 points at 12,818. Gains in three expensive stocks in the average — IBM, United Technologies and Boeing — are driving the increase.
The broader market is flat. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up a fraction of a point at 1,388, and the Nasdaq composite index is up three at 2,919.
Deere, the farm equipment maker, is off 4 percent after an earnings report that fell short of what Wall Street was expecting.
