The markets opened higher with the Dow climbing 79 points to 17,935 as the European Central Bank began its bond buying program. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 4,934.
On the upside
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) will pay a premium of approximately $1.5 billion in stock to acquire RTI International Metals (NYSE: RTI).
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL) was selling itself.
RMG Networks (Nasdaq: RMGN) reported strong preliminary fourth quarter adjusted revenue.
On the downside
The Food and Drug Administration requested that AcelRx (Nasdaq: ACRX) conduct an additional clinical study for its pain medication Zalviso.
Bitauto (NYSE: BITA) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue but the stock price fell.
Retreating crude oil prices weighed down shares of Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) and Petrobras (NYSE: PBR).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 5 points to 2076.
Markets higher as ECB begins bond buying
March 09, 2015 at 10:43 AM EDT