Markets recover as investors focus on earnings

The markets closed modestly higher with the Dow rising 12 points to 16,817 despite disappointing economic data as investors focused on upbeat earnings. Nasdaq added 2 points to 4,485.

On the upside

The underwriters of Vitae Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: VTAE) initial public offering exercised their option to purchase over 1 million shares of common stock at the IPO price of $8 per share.

Shares of Cyber-Ark Software (Nasdaq: CYBR) continued climbing.

Trex (NYSE: TREX) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the third quarter as revenue climbed.

On the downside

Shares of Durect (Nasdaq: DRRX) plunged after Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) ended its partnership with Pain Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PTIE) to develop Remoxy. Pain had licensed the right to develop Remoxy from Durect.

GoPro (Nasdaq: GPRO) stock extended its losses.

Investors locked in profits on SodaStream International (Nasdaq: SODA)

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by more than 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 1961. Bitcoin slipped 2 points to $350.