The markets closed sharply higher with the Dow surging 115 points to 12,595 on upbeat earnings. Nasdaq climbed 21 points to 2847.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration said that Vertex Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: VRTX) experimental hepatitis C treatment telaprevir was more effective than older drugs.
W&T Offshore (NYSE: WTI) reported higher first quarter earnings as revenue climbed and the company announced that it paid approximately $366 million to acquire the West Texas Permian Basin.
Helix Energy Solutions (NYSE: HLX) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the first quarter as revenue surged.
On the downside
Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) reported higher first quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations but the online movie rental subscription service forecast second quarter results below estimates prompting a downgrade.
Investors locked in profits on Travelzoo (Nasdaq: TZOO) whose shares surged after the online travel site reported record first quarter revenue last week.
Rent-A-Center (Nasdaq: RCII) disappointed with first quarter earnings that fell far short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 8 points to 853.
