The S&P 500 was up 1% in midday trading to 1,868.94.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% to 16,047.39.
The NASDAQ was up 1.6% to 4,338.30.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond was down 0.5% to 1.72%.
The price of gold was down 0.4% to $1,194.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based HCP Inc. was down 2% to $27.77 and a $13 billion market cap in a second day of declines after the healthcare facilities REIT gave 2016 earnings guidance about 15% below analyst expectations and said it took an $817 million charge in the fourth quarter. Shares have fallen about 20% in the last two days; HCP stock traded by midday at a rate double its 90-day average.
TECHNOLOGY
Two Orange County natural gas stocks were up as both companies reported positive developments.
Newport Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. was up 3% to $2.32 and a $210 million market cap. The compressed natural gas fueling station operator reported higher sales of a primary product line and said United Parcel Service Inc. had expanded a fueling agreement with the company to Texas from California.
Lake Forest-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. was up 11% to 71 cents and a $20 million market cap after the maker of natural gas storage tanks and fuel systems for trucks said a deal to provide equipment to XPress Natural Gas LLC in Boston was worth $8 million to $21 million.
The two companies’ shares have been battered by the decline in oil prices with each falling by more than 50% over the last six months.
