A better than expected increase in December retail sales lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow rising 42 points to 16,300. Nasdaq gained 30 points to 4143.
On the upside
Quantum (NYSE: QTM) reported preliminary third quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded previous guidance prompting an upgrade.
Ocean Power Technologies (Nasdaq: OPTT) signed a funding agreement to use a A$66.5 million grant from the Australian government to build and deploy a 62.5MW power station off the coast of Portland, Victoria.
MediciNova (Nasdaq: MNOV) reported positive results for its MN-001 in treating the mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
On the downside
GameStop (NYSE: GME) forecast fourth quarter and full year earnings below analyst expectations.
AmeriGas Partners (NYSE: APU) shareholder Heritage ETC priced its public offering of 8 million AmeriGas common units at the discounted price of $42.73 per unit.
Stratasys (Nasdaq: SSYS) forecast full year earnings that fell short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 7 points to 1826. Bitcoin slipped $10.50 or 1.14% to $923.21.
