A rebound in the financial services sector lifted the markets at the opening bell with the Dow climbed 79 points to 12,823. Nasdaq leaped 22 points to 2563.

On the upside

Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI) raised its outlook for the 3rd quarter and 2008 due to strong sales of its Guitar Hero III video game.

Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) posted a decline in profits and lower same-store sales versus year-ago levels, but the results beat expectations due to improved margins.

An analyst upgraded shares of Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) citing strong demand in the PC market through 2008.

On the downside

Shares of Genesco (NYSE: GCO), which is trying to close a merger with Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL), fell after it received a subpoena from federal prosecutors to investigate fraud. An investment bank accused the shoe and hat retailer of providing faulty financial information.

The oil sector pulled back as oil prices eased. Shares of Chevron (NYSE: CVX) slipped despite an analyst upgrade.

Facing more mortgage-related losses, Citigroup (NYSE:C) received a badly-needed $7.5 billion cash infusion. The stock quickly gave up some of its earlier gains.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 6 points to 741.