Durable goods orders climbed in February to lift the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 42 points to 16,410. Nasdaq rose 8 points to 4242.
On the upside
A consortium that includes Full Alliance International increased its acquisition offer for Yongye International (Nasdaq: YONG) from $6.69 per share to $7.00 per share.
Five Below (Nasdaq: FIVE) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations.
Marbridge Daily reported that Tencent acquired a 20% stake in Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU).
On the downside
The Independent Data Monitoring Committee completed an interim analysis of Exelixis' (Nasdaq: EXEL) COMET-1 phase 3 pivotal trial and recommended that the trial proceed to final analysis but shares of Exelixis plummeted.
Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) clarified that reports of an upcoming major deal had already been disclosed on March 13.
Insmed (Nasdaq: INSM) reported disappointing results from a midstage study of its lung infection treatment Arikayce.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 8 points to 1873. Bitcoin rose $5.70 or 0.98%% to $587.53.
