Down day, but 3 stocks shine

Thursday was a down day for the stock market, but major benchmarks managed to limit their losses to modest amounts of less than a half-percent.

Investors looked at a wide variety of factors, including a decline in weekly unemployment claims, new U.S. sanctions against North Korea and the rising belief the Federal Reserve will go forward with a planned interest rate increase in December.

Yet some stocks managed to overcome the downward pressure from the market at large. Calgon Carbon, Kindred Healthcare and Impax Laboratories were among the best performers.

Shares of Calgon Carbon soared more than 60% after the specialist in activated carbon products received a buyout bid from Japanese chemical giant Kuraray for $1.1 billion in cash.

Kindred Healthcare stock climbed 12.5% in the wake of a report on the impact hurricanes Harvey and Irma are likely to have on the hospital operator. The company said it expects a one-time pretax earnings impact of about $20 million during the third quarter. But Kindred said its operations largely have returned to normal.

Shares of Impax Laboratories jumped 10.5%. The drugmaker is looking to merge with privately owned peer Amneal Pharmaceuticals, according to The Wall Street Journal. A combination could be beneficial for Impax Labs if it helps the company defend itself against tough competitive conditions in the generic drug industry, where pricing pressure has threatened to take a toll on profits.