The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow gaining 63 points to 15,192 over optimism that the government shutdown would soon be resolved. Nasdaq climbed 37 points to 3808.
On the upside
Qiwi (Nasdaq: QIWI) priced its public offering of nearly 8.2 million American Depositary Shares at $30.50 per ADS.
The United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended pSivida's (Nasdaq: PSDV) Iluvien as a treatment for chronic diabetic macular edema.
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) will create the CloudBand Ecosystem Program to accelerate industry adoption of Network Functions Virtualization.
On the downside
Shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ACHN) continued falling after the Food and Drug Administration maintained a clinical hold on sovaprevir.
Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) lowered its loan origination guidance for the third quarter.
Robert W. Baird downgraded Beacon Roofing Supply (Nasdaq: BECN) from an Outperform rating to a Neutral rating.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 12 points to 1694.
