The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow climbing 92 points to 15,721 despite disappointing jobs data. Nasdaq soared 48 points to 4196.
On the upside
24/7 Wall Street listed Galena Biopharma (Nasdaq: GALE) as one of eight $5 biotech stocks poised for growth.
Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARIA) shareholder Sarissa Capital Management plans to nominate candidates for at least two seats on Ariad's board.
SMART Technologies (Nasdaq: SMT) swung to a profit for the third quarter as revenue rose.
On the downside
Fourth quarter earnings slipped for Genpact (NYSE: G) and the company forecast full year revenue below expectations.
NCR (NYSE: NCR) reported lower fourth quarter earnings and forecast full year earnings that fell short of expectations.
Cigna (NYSE: CI) disappointed with lower fourth quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates and forecast full year earnings below expectations.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 14 points to 1787. Bitcoin tumbled $71.00 or 9.34% to $760.00.
