A series of multibillion dollar acquisitions gave Wall Street a modest advance today although many investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later in the week.

US stocks dropped today, extending investors’ losses for the third straight session and pushing the Dow Jones industrial average below 11,000 for the first time since March 9.

US stocks made a modest advance today as strong earnings from Yahoo Inc. and United Technologies Corp helped investors briefly set aside worries over inflation and rising oil prices.

A new round of strong earnings reports sent US stocks soaring for a second straight session Friday as investors shrugged off surprisingly slow growth in the nation’s gross domestic product.

Wall Street’s hopes of prolonging its year-end rally suffered another blow today as cautious traders sold off stocks and the technology sector posted a steep decline.

US stocks closed mixed today as sagging energy prices and a strong advance by Honeywell International Inc. sent the Dow Jones industrials higher, but downgrades of Apple Computer Inc. dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lower.

US health officials are examining rare reports of blindness among some men using the impotence drug Viagra.

Stocks got a lift from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan today, rising modestly after he said the recent climb in oil prices was already curbing demand for crude. Oil futures dropped sharply on the news.

A sharp rise in wholesale prices intensified fears about inflation today, sending stocks to a mixed finish and bond prices falling.

Jurors in Charleston, South Carolina, convicted a 15-year-old boy who claimed an antidepressant drug drove him to murder his grandparents, rejecting the first defence in the United States in which a juvenile claimed the effects of the drug caused him to kill.

ELAN and Biogen’s new multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri, will be priced 30% dearer than expectations lifting the prospects of Elan returning to profitability in 2006.

A sharp drop in oil prices gave Wall Street a modest relief rally today, with stocks edging higher on news that oil production had soared during the month of September.

Wall Street closed out a dismal third quarter with a mixed performance Thursday after Merck & Co. said it would be forced to remove its best-selling Vioxx arthritis drug from the market.

Northern drug company Galen Holdings has announced its Warner Chilcott subsidiary is to buy a manufacturing facility in Fajardo in Puerto Rico from Pfizer Inc.

NOVARTIS AG, Europe’s third-biggest drugmaker, said second-quarter profit rose 2.3% as the company boosted sales of its top two products, the hypertension drug diovan and leukemia medicine gleevec.

THE bulk of Schering-Plough’s 2,000-strong Irish workforce is expected to escape the impact of a major consolidation by the company after net income fell by 71% to €173 million.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. is to buy its rival Pharmacia Corporation for $60bn (€60.3bn).