On The Fly: Top stock stories at midday

Stocks opened in positive territory and have remained there throughout the morning. The averages have moved in a narrow range as investors await this afternoon's release of the minutes from the May 3rd FOMC meeting will be released. The notes will be poured over for signs of any change in interest rate policy or clues as to when the central bank will undertake its next rate hike. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the FHFA home price index rose 0.6% to 246.2 in March. Existing home sales fell 2.3% in April to a 5.57M home rate, which was a bit worse than expected. Crude oil inventories drew down by 4.43M barrels versus the consensus for a 2.0M barrel decline. Minutes from the May 3 FOMC meeting are due to be released by the Fed at 2 pm ET. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) are up about 1.5% near midday after Bloomberg reported that Japan's SoftBank Group (SFTBF) has become the U.S. chipmaker's fourth-largest shareholder with a $4B, or 4.9%, stake... Its been another tough day for the traditional retail sector, which has been said a lot lately. Shares of home improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW) and high-end jeweler Tiffany (TIF) are down 3% and nearly 8%, respectively, following their earnings reports. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Intuit (INTU), which jumped 7% after the tax preparation software maker reported better than expected results for its third fiscal quarter. Also higher was Triumph Group (TGI), which gained 25% after reporting earnings and announcing a settlement agreement that resolves all outstanding commercial disputes with Bombardier (BDRBF). Among the noteworthy losers was Chico's (CHS), another retailer that dropped about 12% after its quarterly sales and profits came in below expectations. Also lower was Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX), which fell 9% after the company's Phase 2a study of Ingrezza in pediatric Tourette's missed the primary endpoint in its first controlled trial. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 32.67, or 0.16%, to 20,970.58, the Nasdaq was up 12.16, or 0.2%, to 6,150.88, and the S&P 500 was up 2.35, or 0.1%, to 2,400.77.