The markets opened flat with the Dow losing 7 points to 18,347 as jobless claims edged up. Nasdaq slipped 5 points to 5,154.
On the upside
Check-Cap (Nasdaq: CHEK) entered an agreement with GE Healthcare to develop and validate high-volume manufacturing for X-ray source production and assembly into Check-Cap's capsule.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a letter to Ocular Therapeutix (Nasdaq: OCUL) affirming that corrective actions taken by the company had addressed concerns that were raised in the Form FDA 483 with one remaining item to be addressed.
XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO) reversed year ago losses to post a stronger than expected profit for the second quarter.
On the downside
Sangamo Biosciences (Nasdaq: SGMO) widened second quarter losses as revenue tumbled.
Second quarter earnings dropped for Inovalon (Nasdaq: INOV).
CF Industries (NYSE: CF) disappointed with sharply lower second quarter earnings.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 2,161. Bitcoin climbed $9 to $574.
