The markets closed higher as oil prices retreated and billionaire investor Carl Icahn announced his intentions to oust Yahoo's board. The Dow climbed 94 points to 12,993 while Nasdaq surged 37 points to 2534.

On the upside

Enterra Energy Trust (NYSE: ENT) narrowed first quarter losses as revenue climbed.

Shares of ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) continued to climb after reporting yesterday that first quarter earnings nearly tripled as production increased.

Zoltek Companies (Nasdaq: ZOLT) chief executive Zsolt Rumy reassured investors that all accounting irregularities have been uncovered.

On the downside

Although Silverstar Holdings (Nasdaq: SSTR) narrowed third quarter losses, the stock price dropped.

Yucheng Technologies (Nasdaq: YTEC) reported sharply higher first quarter earnings but the results fell short of estimates.

Steak n Shake (NYSE: SNS) disappointed with a wider than expected second quarter loss as same store sales fell customer traffic dropped.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 7 points to 743.