Crude oil drops but markets close higher on strong retail sales

Despite a drop in crude oil prices to its lowest level in five years, the markets closed higher with the Dow gaining 63 points to 17,596 on upbeat retail sales. Nasdaq climbed 24 points to 4,708.

On the upside

The Advisory Board (Nasdaq: ABCO) will pay approximately $850 million in cash and stock to buy Royall & Co.

Shares of Calithera Biosciences (Nasdaq: CALA) continued to soar.

Women's Health USA selected athenahealth (NYSE: ATHN) to support its providers.

On the downside

Shares of Breitburn Energy Partners (Nasdaq: BBEP) and Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) fell as crude oil prices settled below $60 a barrel for the first time in five years.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) resumed copper processing at its Arizona facility but the stock price fell.

MEI Pharma (Nasdaq: MEIP) will offer up to $45 million worth of common stock through a public offering.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by nearly 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 9 points to 2035. Bitcoin held steady at $344.