Accelerating growth of China's economy boosted the markets to a higher close with the Dow climbing 81 points to 10,544. Nasdaq surged 43 points to 2285.
On the upside
Vista Partners initiated coverage of Opexa Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OPXA) with a price target of $4.40.
XenoPort (Nasdaq: XNPT) will begin Phase 3 development for its spasticity in multiple sclerosis treatment arbaclofen placarbil.
Jones New York (NYSE: JNY) launched its "The Little Black Book of Career Advice" campaign featuring inspirational quotes from 100 successful women.
On the downside
Edward Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) introduced its Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna Mitral Ease valve at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Eurpean Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery but the stock price fell.
Idenix Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IDIX) hopes to resume a clinical trial of its hepatitis C treatments IDX184 and IDX320, which was suspended last week due to safety concerns, but the stock price continued falling.
Piper Jaffray downgraded water treatment equipment company Duoyuan Global Water (NYSE: DGW).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 15 points to 652.
