Dow Gained 94, Nasdaq Adds 29

The Dow gained 93.73 points today to close at 11,211.05, the Nasdaq added 29.07 points to close at 2,198.24 and the S&P 500 added 14.31 points to close at 1,272.88. The markets ended higher today as existing home sale data temporarily doused investors' fears of inflation and interest rate hikes. Revised Q1 GDP was 5.3%, lower than the 5.8% forecast, which analysts see as evidence of an expanding economy - at a controlled pace. COMEX Gold price closed at $650 an ounce. Oil closed up $1.46 to $71.32.

Volume was modest with 1.74 billion shares trading on the NYSE and 2.03 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers clobbered decliners by a margin of 25:07 on the NYSE and 22:08 on the Nasdaq.

In individual stories, Stone Energy Corp. (NYSE: SGY) ended 22.6% (+$9.19) higher after Energy Partners, Ltd. (NYSE: EPL) announced that it has made an offer to the Board of Directors of Stone Energy to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Stone for a combination of cash and stock valued at $52.00 per Stone share. Blue Coat Systems (Nasdaq: BCSI) ended 20% (-$3.75) lower after reporting Q4 EPS of $0.07, 2 cents worse than estimates.(0.09) Revenues were $35.9 million vs. $35.12 million consensus. Sees Q1 EPS of $0.04-$0.06, ex-items, versus the consensus of $0.14 (may not be comparable). Sees Q1 revenue $36.1-$36.6 million, versus the consensus of $37.16 million.

Tomorrow traders will be looking for economic data on Personal Income, Personal Spending (8:30AM EST) and University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (9:50AM EST).