On the upside
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reported a smaller than expected loss as the metals market stabilized.
An analyst upgraded Blue Nile (Nasdaq: NILE), an online retailer for jewelry.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL) reported positive results for its rheumatoid arthritis drug candidate.
On the downside
An analyst downgraded Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX).
Network equipment maker Emulex (NYSE: ELX) turned down a sweetened buy-out offer from Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM).
3COM (Nasdaq: COMS) posted earnings that beat expectations, but quarterly revenues declined versus year-ago levels.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 480.
