The markets soared during the midday with the Dow leaping 156 points to 15,958 as investors welcomed comments by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen that current monetary policy would continue unchanged. Nasdaq gained 34 points to 4182.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration granted clearance to Hansen Medical (Nasdaq: HNSN) for its smaller diameter Magellan(™) 6FrRobotic Catheter.
TriQuint Semiconductor (Nasdaq: TQNT) introduced new high-performance filters for next-generation smartphones.
InvenSense (Nasdaq: INVN) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) settled all pending litigation and entered a patent cross license agreement.
On the downside
Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) reported lower fourth quarter earnings and announced the retirement of chief executive Lanham Napier.
Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) fell to a loss for the fourth quarter and cut its full year earnings outlook.
WPX Energy (NYSE: WPX) warned that a $1.4 billion pretax impairment charge would negatively impact fourth quarter and full year earnings.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 14 points to 1814. Bitcoin fell $20.20 or 3.53% to $572.13.
