The major benchmarks were off the top in lunchtime trading but still sitting on handsome gains.
The Dow was up 109 points, or 0.6%, at 17,842 in lunch-time trading, while the broader-based S&P 500 was 11 points to the good at 2,093. The Nasdaq Composite was 35 points higher at 5,109.
Catching the eye for the second day in succession was KaloBios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KBIO), after an investor group led by Martin Shkreli, founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmeceuticals, took a 70% stake in the company.
Shkreli has been installed as the new chief executive officer of the company, and also the chairman.
The shares, which rose fivefold yesterday, were up 94% in the morning session at US$19.50.
Fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) stormed higher to US$24.125, up 24%, on well-received results.
Profit after tax more than doubled to US$42.3mln in the three months to the end of October from US$18.2mln as the company cut back on discounted offers.
Among the laggards was Aptose Biosciences (TSE:APS, NASDAQ:APTO), down 36.5% on the Nasdaq exchange, after the drug developer halted a trial of its APTO-253 candidate.
The moratorium of the trial, which was on patients with haematologic cancers, will enable the company to ensure dosing procedures are consistent with the appropriate documented quality standards.
Aptose said the pump experienced back-pressure during IV patient dosing at the point of the filter. Further review discovered preliminary concerns regarding the documentation records of the manufacturing procedures of the drug product associated with APTO-253.
Also getting a shellacking was network storage firm Nimble Storage (NYSE:NMBL) after a profit warning.
The company guided for disappointing results for the current quarter while reporting a wider-than-expected loss in the latest quarter.
GAAP net loss was $28.6 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the three months ended October 31, compared with a net loss of $28.4 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, a year earlier, the San Jose, California-based company said in a statement late on Thursday.
The shares halved in price.
US open
The Dow Jones index raced ahead, securing a triple digit gain in the first hour of trading.
The Dow was up 156 points, or 0.9%, at 17,889. The broader-based S&P 500 was 13 points to the good at 2,094, up 0.6%; the Nasdaq Composite was also up 0.6%, at 5,105.
Catching the eye in early trade was KaloBios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KBIO), after an investor group led by Martin Shkreli, founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmeceuticals, took a 70% stake in the company.
Shkreli has been installed as the new chief executive officer of the company, and also the chairman.
Among the laggards was Aptose Biosciences (TSE:APS, NASDAQ:APTO), down 30% on the Nasdaq exchange, after the company halted a trial of its APTO-253 candidate.
The moratorium of the trial, which was on patients with haematologic cancers, will enable the company to ensure dosing procedures are consistent with the appropriate documented quality standards.
Aptose said the pump experienced back-pressure during IV patient dosing at the point of the filter. Further review discovered preliminary concerns regarding the documentation records of the manufacturing procedures of the drug product associated with APTO-253.
Pre-open
US stocks look set to open higher after yesterday's indecisive showing.
Investors will be looking to a speech from St Louis Fed president James Bullard later today or further clues on the timing of the central bank's planned rate hike.
On the corporate front, results from sportswear seller Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) and preppy clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) are likely to be in focus.
Spread betting quotes point to the Dow opening at around 17,800, up 67 points from last night's close; the broader-based S&P 500 is seen kicking off at 2,087, up six points from last night's close.