Wall Street was up in early afternoon trade on Monday after declines earlier in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.17 percent to 13,545.43, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.81 percent to 2,747.17 and the the S&P 500 was 0.23 percent higher to 1,504.04.
In the pharmaceuticals sector, Merck (NYSE: MRK) added $1.21 to $54.32 after it reported that profits were up by 62 percent in the third quarter, boosted by ales of asthma and allergy drugs, blood pressure medicines, cholesterol drugs and a number of vaccines, including one for the prevention of cervical cancer.
The only bad news was that the drug maker still faces liability over its Vioxx anti-inflammatory drug which was taken off the market after being implicated in cardiovascular events in patients who took it.
Elsewhere in the sector, Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) dropped $4.29 to $28.42 after turning in a quarterly report that was not up to investors’ expectations.
Meanwhile Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was 3 cents lower to $24.04.
Home builders were doing well in early afternoon trade, with several builders recording gains in the near-7 percent to nearly 8.5 percent range.
Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) was up 76 cents to $9.82, while DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was 88 cents higher to $12.83 and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) had gained 89 cents to $11.44.
Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) added 94 cents to $14.62 and Lennar (NYSE: LEN) was up $1.39 to $21.08, while Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) jumped $1.56 to $22.08.