The markets opened modestly higher with the Dow adding 8 points to 11,731 even as retail sales disappointed and jobless claims rose. Nasdaq gained 6 points to 2708.
On the upside
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LXRX) reported positive results from a clinical trial of its type 2 diabetes treatment LX4211.
Hauppauge Digital (Nasdaq: HAUP) introduced a new digital TV receiver for laptops and netbooks, a high definition video recorder for game consoles and televisions, and a TV tuner for the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
Amarin (Nasdaq: AMRN) priced its public offering of 12 million American Depositary Shares at $7.60 per ADS.
On the downside
The Wet Seal (Nasdaq: WTSLA) reported a 2.1% drop in same store sales for December.
Quidel (Nasdaq: QDEL) blamed a decrease in influenza product sales for warning of a sharp 52% drop in revenue for the fourth quarter.
Same store sales for Gap (NYSE: GPS) unexpectedly tumbled 3% in December.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by nearly 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point to 793.
