The markets opened higher with the Dow gaining 37 points to 11,612 as crude oil slipped. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 2670.

On the upside

The Food and Drug Administration granted Marina Biotech's (Nasdaq: MRNA) Familial Adenomatous Polyposis treatment CEQ508 orphan drug status.

Piper Jaffay upgraded Rightnow Technologies (Nasdaq: RNOW) to an Overweight rating with a price target of $26.

The New York Post reported that BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) may be the target of a hostile takeover by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners if the warehouse club fails to initiate an auction to sell itself next month.

On the downside

DARA BioSciences (Nasdaq: DARA) priced its public offering of 4,800 units at $1,000 per unit.

China Integrated Energy (Nasdaq: CBEH) announced a registered direct placement of more than 2.1 million common shares at $7 per share to institutional investors.

Seeking Alpha contributor Michael Bryant wrote that Acadia Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ACAD) is overbought.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of moore than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 791.