The markets traded higher during the midday with the Dow climbing 99 points to 17,581. Nasdaq gained 22 points to 4,797.
On the upside
A group of former Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX) executives topped Thermo Fisher Scientific's $1.3 billion offer to acquire the company by offering a premium of approximately $1.5 billion in cash.
Bargain hunters continued to lift shares of MannKind (Nasdaq: MNKD).
Shares of Oncothyreon (Nasdaq: ONTY) climbed on bargain hunting.
On the downside
The Food and Drug Administration issued a Complete Response Letter to Eagle Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: EGRX) for its KANGIO New Drug Application.
CymBay Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CBAY) reported that MBX-8025 has potential to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia but the range of responses was broad.
Shares of Rex Energy (Nasdaq: REXX) extended its losses.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 7 points to 2,048. Bitcoin fell $7 to $409.
