Markets advance as Fed meets

The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow soaring 93 points to 16,693 as the Federal Reserve opened its two-day policy meeting. Nasdaq rose 12 points to 4,873.

On the upside

Matador Resources (NYSE: MTDR) will sell a wholly owned subsidiary with natural gas gathering and processing assets in Loving County, Texas.

MaxLinear (NYSE: MXL) lifted its third quarter revenue guidance.

Xencor (Nasdaq: XNCR) entered a strategic alliance with Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) to develop and commercialize therapeutics in cancer immunotherapy and inflammation.

On the downside

Shares of Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS) extended its losses.

Moody's downgraded Sprint's (NYSE: S) credit rating from B1 to B3.

Mirati Therapeutics (Nasdaq: MRTX) priced its public offering of 2.25 million common shares at the discounted price of $45 per share.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 12 points to 1,990. Bitcoin eased a fraction to $227.