Area stocks rose Tuesday, led by a group that included Norwalk-based Priceline.com Inc. and Diageo PLC, which has its U.S. spirits operations in Norwalk.
The Hearst/Bloomberg Southwest Connecticut Index climbed 1.71 to 104.56, despite seeing 27 stocks gain, 44 fall and nine remain unchanged.
Priceline.com, an online discount travel service, rose $30.49 to close at $204.22, after reporting that its sales rose 30 percent to $730.7 million, exceeding analysts' estimates.
Diageo, the leading alcohol beverage company, gained 85 cents to close at $68.53, after analysts at HSBC said the distiller would benefit from industry mergers. The company said it will take an aggressive and pragmatic approach toward mergers.
Among the decliners, United Rentals Inc., a Greenwich-based equipment rental business, fell 98 cents to close at $8.89.
Clean Diesel Technologies, a Bridgeport-based chemical company, lost 14 cents to close at $1.14, after recording third-quarter revenue of $253,000, compared with $1.58 million for the same period last year.
Despite the sharp decline in sales, the company saw an improvement in earnings with a net loss of $1.90 million for the third quarter, compared with a net loss of $2.38 million for the same period in 2008.
-- Richard Lee
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