Indications that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates sent the markets soaring to a sharply higher open with the Dow jumping 185 points to 16,658. Nasdaq surged 49 points to 4,756.

On the upside

ContraVir Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CTRV) reported preliminary positive data for its CMX157 to treat hepatitis B.

Bargain hunters continued to snap up shares of Amicus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FOLD).

Spark Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ONCE) reported upbeat data from a Phase 3 trial of SPK-RPE65.

On the downside

Citron tweeted that Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) was a lemon.

Piper Jaffray downgraded FireEye (Nasdaq: FEYE) from an Overweight rating to a Neutral rating.

The Brazilian regulatory agency ANVISA temporarily suspended activity at a contract manufacturer for Sientra (Nasdaq: SIEN).

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 8 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 leaped 24 points to 1,975. Bitcoin edged up a fraction to $237.