4:20 pm : The major averages ended higher across the board as the S&P 500 advanced 0.8%.

Equities climbed steadily since the opening bell as investors prepared for tomorrow's policy decision from the Federal Reserve. Although chatter in recent weeks has included speculation the Fed would look to taper its asset purchases, today's broad gains suggest investors expect mostly reassuring words from Chairman Bernanke at tomorrow's press conference.

All ten sectors ended with solid gains, but today's rally was predicated on the strength of cyclical names.

The industrial space rose 1.3% amid outperformance in transportation and defensive stocks. The Dow Jones Transportation Average advanced 1.0% as 19 of 20 components registered gains. GATX (GMT 48.05, -0.45) was the lone decliner after Stifel Nicolaus downgraded the stock to 'Hold' from 'Buy.'

With regards to defensive stocks, Dow component General Electric (GE 24.33, +0.56) settled higher by 2.4% after forging a strategic partnership with Accenture (ACN 82.93, +0.48). The broader PHLX Defense Index climbed 1.7%.

Discretionary stocks also made a significant contribution to today's rally as the sector displayed broad strength. The lone pocket of weakness was among homebuilders as the group ended in mixed fashion following today's housing data. New home sales for the month of May hit an annualized rate of 914,000, which was short of the 950,000 expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

Notably, single-family starts increased a minuscule 0.3% in May from 597,000 in April to 599,000. This sector tends to be very stable. The lack of solid rebound after 4.2% decline in April could

6:17PM Hecla Mining acquires interest in Typhoon Exploration (HL) 3.26 -0.08 : Co announces that as a result of its acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of Aurizon Mines, it has acquired CDN$500,000 of common shares of Typhoon Exploration pursuant to an option agreement entered into between Typhoon and Aurizon dated May 17, 2010, as amended. The TSX Venture Exchange has conditionally approved the transaction, in which Hecla through Aurizon has acquired 5,555,556 common shares of Typhoon from treasury at a price of CDN$0.09 per common share for total gross proceeds to Typhoon of CDN$500,000. This acquisition is the fourth of four CDN$500,000 tranches. Upon completion of the subscription, Hecla, through Aurizon, will exercise control over approximately 8,722,294 million shares, representing 29.4% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Typhoon. In addition, with a further approximately CDN$800,000 of in-ground expenditures by June 2014, Aurizon will have invested a total of CDN$10 million required under the option agreement to earn a 50% interest in the Fayolle Property as well as the interests of Typhoon in the Aiguebelle-Goldfields Property (6 mining claims 51% owned by Typhoon and 49% owned by Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited).

6:04PM MediciNova: UCLA presents data on MediciNova's MN-166 in methamphetamine addicition (MNOV) 2.57 +0.07 : Co announced the presentation of preliminary results from a Phase 1b study of MN-166 (ibudilast) in methamphetamine addiction at the 75th Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) in San Diego on June 18, 2013. Preliminary results from one cognitive performance task, presented in a poster session, showed significant improvement in measures of sustained attention in subjects completing a treatment sequence ending with a one-week course of MN-166 dosing at 100 mg/day versus those subjects completing the treatment sequence on an inactive control ("placebo"). In addition, MN-166 was featured in a symposium panel titled "Preclinical to Clinical Evidence that Glia and Neuroinflammation Mediate Drug Abuse and Related Pathologies on Tuesday, June 18 at 10:00 am Pacific. The panel included researchers from UCLA, Columbia University in New York, and Virginia Commonwealth University. In the symposium, Dr. Shoptaw summarized results of cardiovascular safety analyses wherein infusions of methamphetamine administered at placebo, 40 mg/day and 100 mg/day MN-166 regimens. Analyses showed that in the presence of relevant doses of methamphetamine, MN-166 produced no significant changes in blood pressure or heart rate. These cardiovascular safety interaction endpoints were a primary objective in the study design. He also noted that MN-166 administration did not result in any serious or severe adverse events, or subject discontinuations due to adverse events. These findings provide support for moving forward with the Phase 2 trial.

5:16PM Boston Properties prices $700 mln offering of senior unsecured notes (BXP) 111.20 -0.03 : Co announced today that its operating partnership, Boston Properties Limited Partnership, has agreed to sell $700 million of 3.800% senior unsecured notes due 2024 in an underwritten public offering through Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, as joint book-running managers. The notes were priced at 99.694% of the principal amount to yield 3.835% to maturity. The notes will mature on February 1, 2024 unless earlier redeemed. The offering is expected to close on June 27, 2013. The estimated net proceeds from this offering are expected to be approximately $691.9 million after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated transaction expenses of approximately $8.1 million. BPLP intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the notes for general business purposes, which may include investment opportunities and debt reduction. Pending such uses, BPLP may invest the net proceeds in short-term, interest-bearing securities.