The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow rising 57 points to 16,600 on upbeat economic data. Nasdaq climbed 25 points to 4,180.
On the upside
LiveDeal (Nasdaq: LIVE) has nearly $10 million in cash to continue growing the company through acquisitions.
ZIOPHARM Oncology (Nasdaq: ZIOP) presented positive results from using Ad-RTS-IL-12 against cancer stem cells in the brain.
Shares of Parsley Energy (NYSE: PE) surged in its market debut.
On the downside
Stifel Nicolaus downgraded RetailMeNot (Nasdaq: SALE) from a Buy rating to a Hold rating.
Profit taking sank shares of Atossa Genetics (Nasdaq: ATOS).
NewLead Holdings (Nasdaq: NEWL) extended its losses.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 7 points to 1899. Bitcoin slipped $1.19 or 0.23% to $519.20.