Upbeat corporate and global news lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow surging 103 points to 16,207. Nasdaq climbed 29 points to 4292.
On the upside
Celladon (Nasdaq: CLDN) entered an option agreement with Servier for a worldwide ex-U.S. research collaboration.
Trex (NYSE: TREX) swung to a greater than expected profit for the fourth quarter as revenue climbed.
Humana (NYSE: HUM) said that Medicare payment cuts will be less than expected.
On the downside
Avid Technology (Nasdaq: AVID) received a delist letter from Nasdaq saying that trading in shares of the company will be suspended beginning tomorrow, February 25, 2014.
Armstrong World Industries (NYSE: AWI) reported higher fourth quarter earnings but the results fell short of analyst expectations.
FBR Capital downgraded Cogent Communications (Nasdaq: CCOI) from a Market Perform rating to an Underperform rating.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 11 points to 1847. Bitcoin plummeted $149.76 or 47.25% to $167.18.
