The markets traded higher during the midday with the Dow climbing 72 points to 17,200. Nasdaq gained 34 points to 4,957.
On the upside
ONEOK (NYSE: OKE) expects to continue paying dividends in 2016 at the same level as 2015.
An energy infrastructure fund will invest $500 million in Rice Energy’s (NYSE: RICE) wholly owned subsidiary Rice Midstream Holdings.
Guggenheim upgraded Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AEGR) from a Sell rating to a Buy rating.
On the downside
MagneGas (Nasdaq: MNGA) filed provisional patents related to proprietary characteristics of its new MagneGas fuel but the stock price fell after Seeking Alpha wrote that the company was stock promotion shell with the potential to tumble 92%.
Evercore downgraded Atwood Oceanics (NYSE: ATW) from a Buy rating to a Hold rating.
Retreating crude oil prices weighed down shares of Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 9 points to 2,014. Bitcoin lost $5 to $435.
