An upbeat assessment of the nation's economy by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde lifted the markets during the midday with the Dow gaining 73 points to 16,294. Nasdaq climbed 38 points to 4142.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration approved United Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: UTHR) high blood pressure medication Orenitram.
YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW) reached a deal with creditors to reduce its debt by approximately $300 million.
A Delaware district court ruled in favor of Meritor (NYSE: MTOR) to allow a pretrial schedule to determine damages.
On the downside
Tesaro (Nasdaq: TSRO) reported that its chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting treatment rolapitant failed to meet secondary endpoints in two Phase 3 studies.
Shares of Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico (NYSE: BSMX) began trading ex-dividend today.
V.F. Corp (NYSE: VFC) commenced a 4-for-1 stock split.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 9 points to 1827. Bitcoin rose $24.20 or 3.71% to $677.00.
