A late afternoon rally lifted the markets to a sharply higher close with the Dow soaring 128 points to 12,569. Nasdaq surged 38 points to 2825.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration approved Optimer Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: OPTR) antibiotic Dificid for treating intestinal infections.
Shares of Sequans Communications (NYSE: SQNS) continued climbing after three analysts initiated coverage of the 4G semiconductor solutions company last week with Buy ratings.
Needham & Co. initiated coverage of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: LXRX) on Friday with a Buy rating.
On the downside
Seeking Alpha contributor Aaron Stackhouse detailed accounting irregularities in SEC filings by L&L Energy (Nasdaq: LLEN).
Short sellers sank shares of LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD).
MPG Office Trust (NYSE: MPG) completed the disposition of its Westin Pasadena Hotel.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 12 points to 848.
