The markets closed sharply higher with the Dow leaping 175 points to 14,075 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke affirmed the Fed's commitment to its policy of quantitative easing. Nasdaq soared 32 points to 3162.

On the upside

Craig-Hallum lifted its price target on Uni-Pixel (Nasdaq: UNXL) from $24 to $31.

Meru Networks (Nasdaq: MERU) priced its public offering of 3 million common shares at $4.00 per share.

Xinyuan Real Estate (NYSE: XIN) reported higher fourth quarter earnings as revenue climbed.

On the downside

CombiMatrix (Nasdaq: CBMX) widened fourth quarter losses.

Shares of BroadSoft (Nasdaq: BSFT) fell ahead of its earnings release after market close.

A Seeking Alpha contributor alleged that Silvercorp Metals (NYSE: SVM) issued an inaccurate fiscal 2013 operating cash flow outlook.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index soared 19 points to 1515.