JC Penney rebounds on progress report JC Penney shares rebounded after a sharp slide in premarket trading, after the company said it was pleased with the progress of its turnround efforts, writes Reuters. Responding to concerns about the company's liquidity, chief executive Myron Ullman said he did not expect the retailer would need to raise cash this year. The shares rose 2.8 per cent to $10.40. Bed Bath & Beyond rose 4.5 per cent to $77.52 a day after the company reported a jump in second-quarter profit as the US housing market recovery spurred demand for its products. Hertz Global shares dropped 16 per cent to $21.66 after the car rental company cut its full-year forecast due to weaker than expected airport car rental volumes in the US, the company's biggest business. Eli Lilly fell 3 per cent to $51.04 after the company said its experimental breast cancer drug failed to improve patients" survival without their cancer worsening in a late-stage trial, dashing investors" hopes on one of its most talked-about drugs. Nike will report results after the closing bell. It will be the first earnings report for the retailer as a member of the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average. Shares were up 2.1 per cent at $70.34. Overall US stocks rose after upbeat job market data following five days of declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 per cent to 15,328.11, the S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to 1,698.67 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7 per cent to 3,787.43. Trucking company Knight Transportation offered to buy rival USA Truck for about $242m including debt. Knight said it would pay $9 per share, a premium of 39 per cent to USA Truck's Wednesday closing price. Knight shares rose 3.8 per cent to $16.61, while USA Truck surged 36 per cent to $8.80. Facebook shares breached $50 on Thursday after Jefferies Equities Research raised its price target on the social network's stock to $60. Bernstein Research raised its target to $40. Shares in Facebook were up 1.9 per cent at $50.39. Ebay shares added 4.5 per cent to $56.64 after the company announced it will acquire Braintree, a mobile payment company, for about $800m. Casino operator Caesars Entertainment announced the commencement of a secondary public offering of 10m shares. The company had about 126.3m shares outstanding as of August 1. Shares fell 5.2 per cent to $19.84. Rival Las Vegas Sands added 1.5 per cent to $66.90. Blackberry shares dropped 0.7 per cent to $7.95, continuing their downward track, despite a recent offer to take the company private for $4.7bn. The company canceled its conference call on second-quarter earnings, but said it would report on its performance next week. Chemical company HB Fuller on Wednesday reported a higher than expected third-quarter profit as it cut down expenses. The company also raised the low end of its full-year earnings forecast to $2.60 from $2.55 per share. Shares rose 7.1 per cent to $43.30. Shares of the medical supply chain management firm Premier rose as much as 15 per cent in their market debut, valuing the company at about $4.36bn. Shares closed up 13.5 per cent to $30.65. Kior, the renewable fuels company, said it would double production capacity at a cellulosic fuels facility in Mississippi by building a second plant there. The company estimates that the plant will cost about $225m. Shares rose 57.9 per cent to $2.89.