The markets surged to close sharply higher with the Dow soaring 112 points to 17,716 as crude oil prices climbed above $37 per barrel. Nasdaq leaped 76 points to 4,920.

On the upside

Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR) will hold an investor and analyst update conference call on April 14, 2015 at 5pm ET.

Raptor Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: RPTP) is rumored to be exploring a possible sale of the company.

Oppenheimer lifted its price target on Sarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRPT) from $45 to $60.

On the downside

The Female Health Company (Nasdaq: FHCO) will merge with Aspen Park Pharmaceuticals.

aTyr Pharma (Nasdaq: LIFE) will present at the 15th Annual Needham & Co. Healthcare Conference next week.

Infoblox (NYSE: BLOX) Vice President of World Field Operations Thorsten Freitag resigned.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 surged 21 points to 2,066. Bitcoin slipped $2 to $418.