The markets opened higher with the Dow gaining 64 points to 16,285 after International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the U.S. economy would expand at a quicker pace in 2014. Nasdaq climbed 30 points to 4134.
On the upside
Chardan Capital Markets upgraded Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARIA) from a Neutral rating to a Buy rating.
Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX) will pay a premium of approximately $374 million in cash to acquire Xyratex (Nasdaq: XRTX).
Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) extended its partnership with GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) for five years.
On the downside
Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) from a Neutral rating to an Underperform rating.
Michael Kors (NYSE: KORS) was designated as a "Water-Logged and Getting Wetter" stock by Trade-Ideas.
The Federal Aviation Administration certified Cessna's Citation Sovereign+ but shares of parent company Textron (NYSE: TXT) fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 8 points to 1826. Bitcoin rose $22.20 or 3.40% to $675.00.
