BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Drug stocks were mixed Wednesday while shares of Merck & Co. gained ground as the pharmaceutical giant marked the first day since the closure of its $41 billion merger with rival Schering-Plough Corp.
The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index rose 1.8% to 290.36, and the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index climbed 0.8% to 880.91.
Shares of Merck were up almost 7% to $32.79.
Merck closed its merger with Schering-Plough Tuesday. Shares of Schering-Plough ceased trading at the market's close.
Early Wednesday, Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck said it sees the combined company having compound annual earnings growth in the high-single digits.
The company did not announce any layoffs or site closings. It plans to retain Schering-Plough's former headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J.
Shares of Pfizer Inc. advanced more than 2% to $17.06. The company closed on its $68 billion merger with Wyeth last month.
Johnson & Johnson shares edged up almost 2% to $59.80.
On Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson announced plans to cut up to 7% of its roughly 117,000-person workforce, or about 8,200 jobs, in an effort to save $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion a year in costs.
The conglomerate plans to use the savings to invest in new growth markets and product launches and to "provide flexibility to adjust to the changed and evolving global environment."
The world's largest health-care-products company said the restructuring will be focused on reducing the layers of management and simplifying business structures.
As a result of the move, J&J plans to take a pre-tax restructuring charge of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter. It confirmed its adjusted 2009 financial forecast of earnings of $4.54 to $4.59 a share. See full story.
, 
, 
, Copyright ©2009. All rights reserved.