Strong December auto sales lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow gaining 60 points to 19,942. Nasdaq climbed 47 points to 5,477.
On the upside
Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OREX) launched its "Brains Behind Weight Loss" patient focused campaign.
U.S. News & World Report ranked Weight Watchers International (NYSE: WTW) #1 in the following four categories "Best Diet for Fast Weight Loss," Best Diet for Weight Loss," "Best Commercial Diet," and "Easiest Diet to Follow."
Shares of Ceragon Networks (Nasdaq: CRNT) for the fourth day.
On the downside
FBR downgraded Emergent Capital (NYSE: EMG) from an Outperform rating to a Market Perform rating.
QuickLogic (Nasdaq: QUIK) regained compliance with the Nasdaq minimum bid price of $1.00 per share but the stock price fell.
JMP Securities downgraded The Ensign Group (Nasdaq: ENSG) from a Market Perform rating to an Underperform rating.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 6 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index gained 12 points to 2,270. Bitcoin tumbled $25 to $1,084.
