November construction spending surged to a 10 1/2 year high to lift the markets to a sharply higher open on the first trading day of 2017 with the Dow leaping 160 points to 19,923. Nasdaq soared 60 points to 5,443.
On the upside
Xerox (NYSE: XRX) completed the separation of Conduent (NYSE: CNDT), creating two publicly traded companies.
Interspace Diagnostics Group (Nasdaq: IDXG) entered an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield's Center for Clinical Effectiveness to support enhanced coverage.
BioScrip (Nasdaq: BIOS) expects fourth quarter results to be at the high end of its guidance and announced a proposed Amendment to its Credit Agreement.
On the downside
Inotek Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ITEK) reported disappointing results from a Phase III clinical trial of its glaucoma treatment trabodenoson.
Ferroglobe (Nasdaq: GSM) executive chair Alan Kestenbaum resigned.
Clovis Oncology (Nasdaq: CLVS) announced a public offering of its common stock.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index surged 22 points to 2,261. Bitcoin added $1 to $1,002.
