Midday Report: Bed, Bath & Beyond Disappoints; Stocks Rally

U.S. stocks extended gains after an unexpected decline in crude inventories pushed oil prices higher. West Texas Intermediate had recaptured a level above $37 a barrel by the middle of the session. New home sales in November reached their highest level in three months. However, growth did come in weaker than expected, a sign the housing market recovery has lost steam. Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY) tumbled after cutting quarterly guidance on weaker expected sales. The homewares retailer said it forecasts sales growth of just 0.3 percent in its third quarter, a big miss from previous guidance of at least 1.8 percent. Micron Technology (MU) fell after reporting a 27 percent decline in quarterly revenue. The semiconductor company suffered from lower prices on softer demand for PC chips. TheStreet's Keris Lahiff has details from Wall Street.