The markets opened sharply higher with the Dow soaring 130 points to 11,546 in anticipation of Slovakia’s approval to expand the European bailout fund. Nasdaq surged 40 points to 2623.

On the upside

Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) will sell four of its brands for approximately $328 million and change its name to better represent its remaining Juicy Couture and Lucky Brands.  

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) will deploy a Long Term Evolution Public Safety Network in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

CNBC reported that A123 Systems (Nasday: AONE) will supply the batteries for General Motors’ (NYSE: GM) electric vehicle Spark.

On the downside

Chesapeake Midstream Partners (NYSE: CHKM) priced its secondary offering of 10 million common units at $26.65 per unit.  

Jefferies initiated coverage of GT Advanced Technologies (Nasdaq: GTAT) with an Underperform rating.

Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reported higher third quarter earnings but the results fell far short of analyst expectations. 

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 8 points to 697.