Consumer confidence in September soared to a nine-year high lifting the markets to a sharply higher close with the Dow surging 133 points to 18,228. Nasdaq climbed 48 points to 5,305.
On the upside
Shares of Real Goods Solar (Nasdaq: RGSE) more than doubled after Senator Hillary Clinton advocated for installing 500 million more solar panels during the presidential debate last night.
Kitov Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: KTOV) reported upbeat results from an additional pharmacokinetic bioequivalence study of KIT-302.
Bargain hunters lifted shares of DURECT (Nasdaq: DRRX).
On the downside
Ligand Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LGND) partner Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) reported disappointing results from a Phase 3 trial of Kyprolis.
Retreating crude oil prices weighed down shares of Vanguard Natural Resources (Nasdaq: VNR).
Avis Budget Group (Nasdaq: CAR) warned of demand weakness in Europe.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 13 points to 2,159. Bitcoin slipped $1 to $604.
