The nation's trade deficit narrowed more than expected in November to lift the markets to a sharply higher open with the Dow soaring 114 points to 16,539. Nasdaq surged 33 points to 4147.
On the upside
Neurocrine Biosciences (Nasdaq: NBIX) reported positive results from a Phase IIb Kinect 2 study of a small molecule VMAT2 inhibitor NBI-98854.
Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) will develop hydrogen fuel cell range extenders for FedEx Express electric delivery trucks.
Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) entered a joint venture with China National Nuclear to develop and construct distributed generation solar projects in China.
On the downside
RBC Capital Markets downgraded Gulfport Energy (Nasdaq: GPOR).
Key Energy Services (NYSE: KEG) reported a drop from 35 average operating rigs in its International segment during the third quarter to 32 average operating rigs in the fourth quarter.
PBF Energy (NYSE: PBF) priced its secondary offering of 15 million common shares at the discounted price of $28 per share.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 11 points to 1838. Bitcoin fell $46.98 or 4.82% to $975.00.