The nation’s employers added more jobs than expected in April to lift the markets to a higher open with the Dow rising 27 points to 16,585. Nasdaq added 8 points to 4,136.

On the upside 

Westport Innovations (Nasdaq: WPRT) narrowed first quarter losses as revenue climbed.

Sequenom (Nasdaq: SQNM) narrowed losses for the first quarter on higher revenue.

RXI Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RXII) reported positive results for a study of RXI-109 in the eyes of cynomolgus monkeys.

On the downside 

Edocyte (Nasdaq: ECYT) and Merck (NYSE: MRK) halted a late stage study of their ovarian cancer treatment vintafolide because it was not effective.

ServiceSource International (Nasdaq: SREV) widened first quarter losses more than expected.

Immunomedics (Nasdaq: IMMU) priced its public offering of 9 million common shares at the discounted price of $3.35 per share.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 5 points to 1888. Bitcoin lost $13.38 or 3.04% to $440.55.