Tumbling crude oil prices lifted the markets sharply higher during the midday with the Dow leaping 148 points to 11,111. Nasdaq soared 37 points to 2253.

On the upside

Although AMR (NYSE: AMR), the parent company of American Airlines, swung to a loss for the second quarter due to record fuel expenses, the results were better than analyts expected.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) blamed soaring fuel costs for swinging to a second quarter loss but the results beat expectations.

Old Dominion Freight Line (Nasdaq: ODFL) forecast second quarter earnings ahead of expectations as productivity improved and prices stabilized prompting the trucking company to lift it full year guidance.

On the downside

Second quarter earnings for Knight Capital Group (Nasdaq: NITE) rose as trading revenue increased but the results fell short of estimates.

Gannett (NYSE: GCI) blamed sharply lower revenue for a drop in second quarter earnings.

Alesco Financial (NYSE: AFN) must record an $86 million loss from the real estate investment trust's investment in collateralized debt obligations issued by IndyMac.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 12 points to 674.