Corporate consolidations and upbeat earnings lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow gaining 61 points to 12,288. Nasdaq climbed 21 points to 2825.
On the upside
Threshold Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: THLD) and the Food and Drug Administration agreed on a Special Protocol Assessment for a Phase 3 randomized trial of the company's soft tissue sarcoma treatment TH-302.
Third quarter earnings slipped for La-A-Boy (NYSE: LZB) but the results surpassed analyst expectations.