A disappointingly weak gain in December jobs weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 18 points to 16,425. Nasdaq added a point to 4157.
On the upside
Shares of Conatus Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CNAT) surged on rival Intercept Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: ICPT) upbeat liver fibrosis treatment trial results. Conatus is developing a similar type of drug.
Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) will raise $30 million through the placement of common stock and warrants with a single institutional investor.
Galectin Therapeutics (Nasdaq: GALT) has raised more than $23.8 million through a recent stock sale and has approximately $32.3 million in cash.
On the downside
Reviewers for the Food and Drug Administration found no evidence that Chelsea Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: CHTP) rare low blood pressure treatment droxidopa was effective over a long period of time.
A Food and Drug advisory committee is tentatively schedule to review MannKind's (Nasdaq: MNKD) new drug application for its inhalable insulin product AFREZZA.
Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD) warned of significant losses for the fourth quarter and full year and reported a sharp 7.4% drop in U. S. same store sales in the quarter to date.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 5 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by nearly 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 edged up a point to 1838. Bitcoin slipped $18.10 or 1.97% to $917.02.
