The beginning of earnings season lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow soaring 106 points to 18,004. Nasdaq climbed 21 points to 4,960.
On the upside
Valeant Pharmaceuticals' (NYSE: VRX) chief executive J. Michael Pearson was questioned by the Senate Special Committee on Aging today.
Seth R. Johnson will be nominated to the board of Christopher & Banks (NYSE: CBK).
Shares of Argos Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ARGS) continued rising.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on PTC Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PTCT).
Eli Lily will not advance Transition Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: TTHI) diabetes drug candidate TT401 into Phase 3 development.
Profit taking weighed down shares of Great Basin Scientific (Nasdaq: GBSN).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 13 points to 2,094. Bitcoin added a fraction to $426.
