The markets opened mixed with the Dow rising 16 points to 18,356 while Nasdaq lost 12 points to 5,306 as pending home sales fell 2.4% in August.
On the upside
Catabasis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CATB) entered a joint research collaboration with Sarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRPT) to explore a combination drug treatment approach for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor & Welfare approved Aegerion Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: AEGR) JUXTAPID to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.
Mimecast (Nasdaq: MIME) priced its secondary offering of 4 million common shares at the discounted price of $16.50 per share.
On the downside
The Food and Drug Administration's Division of Psychiatry Products placed a full clinical hold on Alcobra's (Nasdaq: ADHD) Investigational New Drug applications for MDX in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Fragile X Syndrome.
Pacific Crest downgraded Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) from a Sector Weight rating to an Underweight rating.
Intra-Cellular Therapies (Nasdaq: ITCI) reported disappointing results from a Phase 3 trial of ITI-007 to treat schizophrenia prompting a downgrade.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 held steady at 2,171. Bitcoin eased a fraction to $603.
