Markets extend losses a oil drops

The markets extended its losses during the midday with the Dow collapsing 308 points to 17,524 as crude oil prices fell below $50 per barrel for the first time in more than five years. Nasdaq plunged 60 points to 4,666.

On the upside

Bargain hunters lifted shares of NeuroDerm (Nasdaq: NDRM).

Isis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISIS) entered a global collaboration agreement with Janssen Biotech to discover and develop RNA-targeted treatments for autoimmune diseases.

CVS (NYSE: CVS) granted exclusive treatment status to Gilead Sciences' (Nasdaq: GILD) hepatitis C drugs.

On the downside

Crude oil prices continued to drop which sent shares of Laredo Petroleum (NYSE: LPI) and Swift Energy (NYSE: SFY) tumbling.

Shares of Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) fell ahead of its earnings release tomorrow, January 6, after market close.

Citigroup downgraded Ford (NYSE: F) from a Buy rating to a Neutral rating.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 plummeted 34 to 2023. Bitcoin gained $11 to $272.