- Rosengren (Fed) says QE3 improves the broader fiscal outlook
- Powell (Fed) thinks some fears of balance sheet-risk are overstated

Dow Jones Industrials: 0.71%
Nasdaq Comp.: 0.72%
S&P 500: 0.64%

The main market averages are holding moderately higher at the midday mark.

The above comes on a day in which no major macroeconomic releases are scheduled for release, although two members of the Federal Reserve have taken to the podium and made remarks with implications for the monetary policy outlook.

Eric Rosengren, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, indicated that QE3 improves the broader fiscal outlook by lowering interest rates and providing more economic growth. In a similar vein, one of the Fed Governors, Jerome Powell, argued this afternoon that some of the risks which some associate with quantitative easing are not "high on the list of near term risks."

As well, a report out after yesterday's close cited Bernanke as having given 'short thrift' to the risks associated with quantitative easing when speaking at a meeting of dealers.

It is thought that all of the above may have helped to assuage at least some of the worries regarding the future pace of central bank asset purchases. Recent preoccupations in this regard have been so intense that they have overshadowed other considerations like the looming Italian elections next weekend or the start of the federal budget 'sequester' on March 1st.

Acting as a backdrop, a fair bit of market commentary was highlighting that Fed President Bernanke will have the chance to 'clear the air' - if he so wishes - when he testifies before both chambers of Congress next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Stock of Cabot Oil&Gas is now the best performer on the benchmark S&P 500 after the company announced its quarterly results last night. The outfit achieved a record level of production of natural gas of 267.7bn cubic feet (Bcfe), 43% more than a year ago.

Shares of PC giant Hewlett-Packard are advancing after the company last night forecast profits that exceeded analysts' estimates.

Insurer American International Group is also gaining positions in pre-open trading following the release of fourth-quarter results that beat forecasts.

Semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments unveiled a 33% in its dividend pay-out and said it added $5bn to its stock repurchase program.

Advertising giant Interpublic has also announced a $300m share repurchase program.

Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, on the other hand, posted fourth-quarter sales of $1.47bn, short of the $1.49bn average of analysts.

From a sector stand-point the best performers were: Brewers (4.11%), Forestry&Paper (3.16%) and Paper (3.21%).

Front month West Texas crude futures were falling by 0.34% to the $93.16/barrel mark on the NYMEX.

10 year US Treasury yields were down by 1 basis point, to 1.97%.

S&P 500 - Risers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $19.39 +13.39%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $59.45 +10.38%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $34.02 +4.74%
Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) $15.10 +4.61%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $22.49 +4.36%
Molson Coors Brewing Co. Class B (TAP) $46.38 +4.25%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $7.99 +4.04%
Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) $71.30 +3.75%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $46.35 +3.60%
Xerox Corp. (XRX) $8.10 +3.32%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) $46.35 -5.50%
Lorillard Inc. (LO) $40.98 -4.16%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $179.60 -4.03%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $70.47 -3.00%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $8.64 -2.70%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $36.21 -2.32%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $22.58 -2.25%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $33.70 -2.06%
Coach Inc. (COH) $46.71 -1.91%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $20.04 -1.81%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $19.39 +13.39%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $65.56 +1.83%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $38.38 +1.76%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $47.22 +1.49%
American Express Co. (AXP) $62.31 +1.25%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $43.01 +1.20%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $95.04 +0.96%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $200.22 +0.95%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $90.21 +0.89%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $48.67 +0.87%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $54.40 -1.52%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $76.13 -0.96%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $27.26 -0.55%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $11.38 -0.39%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.63 -0.35%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $91.28 -0.27%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $76.86 -0.23%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $34.02 +4.74%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $7.99 +4.04%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $70.00 +3.32%
DIRECTV (DTV) $48.98 +2.53%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $62.84 +2.51%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $22.86 +2.47%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $13.55 +2.23%
Liberty Global Inc. Series A (LBTYA) $64.78 +2.19%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $101.61 +2.19%
Liberty Interactive Corp (LINTA) $21.27 +2.16%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $36.21 -2.32%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $55.60 -1.19%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $81.49 -0.80%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $34.33 -0.61%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $27.14 -0.53%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $264.66 -0.48%
Perrigo Company (PRGO) $113.08 -0.44%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $39.91 -0.42%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $34.88 -0.40%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $31.61 -0.35%

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