The markets opened sharply higher with the Dow leaping 133 points to 16,456 ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen. Nasdaq surged 44 points to 4199.
On the upside
MangeGas (Nasdaq: MNGA) expanded its joint venture with Future Energy .
Nordion (NYSE: NDZ) will be acquired by Sterigenics for a premium of $11.75 per share.
Biofuel (Nasdaq: BIOF) received a preliminary proposal from Greenlight Capital and James R. Brickman for Biofuel to acquire JBGL, which is owned by Greenlight and Brickman.
On the downside
Prana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PRAN) reported disappointing results from a Phase 2 Imagine trial of its Alzheimer's disease treatment PBT2.
Summer Street does not expect the Food and Drug Administration to approve Mannkind's (Nasdaq: MNKD) inhalable insulin product Afrezza.
Investors locked in profits on Idera Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IDRA).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 soared 15 points to 1873. Bitcoin slipped $5.84 or 1.25% to $461.12.