Markets plunge over rate hike possibility

Comments over the weekend by Federal Reserve vice chair Stanley Fischer indicated that an interest rate increase was still a possibility despite the recent global market collapse. The markets opened sharply lower with the Dow plummeting 182 points to 16,460. Nasdaq tumbled 46 points to 4,781.

On the upside

Vital Therapies (Nasdaq: VTL) announced additional data from a VTI-208 clinical trial.

The Medicines Company (Nasdaq: MDCO) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALNY) announced positive initial results from an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of ALN-PCSsc to treat hypercholesterolemia.

BioLife Solutions (Nasdaq: BLFS) customer TiGenix reported positive Phase III ADMIRE-CD trial results for Cx601.

On the downside

Profit taking weighed down shares of Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARIA).

Shares of GameStop (NYSE: GME) continued falling.

Investors locked in profits on SeaDrill (NYSE: SDRL).

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 plunged 22 points to 1,966. Bitcoin added $1 to $227.