U.S. stocks fall as oil-price drop weighs on investors

U.S. stocks fell on Monday as oil prices turned sharply lower and spooked investors into dumping shares of drillers and other energy-service companies.

The drop in oil weighed on stocks from the start of trading. Weak trade figures out of China and news that Japan’s recession is deeper than initially thought suggested demand for crude would be lower in those two economies. Among the big losers were two Dow Jones industrial average components, Chevron, down 3.7 percent, and Exxon Mobil, off 2.3 percent.

The Dow lost 106.31 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,852.48. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 15.06 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,060.31. The Nasdaq composite fell 40.06 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,740.69

Merck moves deeper into treating ‘superbugs’

Merck will spend $8.4 billion to buy Cubist Pharmaceuticals and move deeper into treating so-called “superbugs” that have drawn dire warnings from global health organizations.

The company said Monday that the deal will give it stronger footing in hospital acute care and help it address antibiotic resistance, which the Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, drugmaker called a critical area of unmet medical need.

Antibiotic-resistant infections are linked to 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses in the United States annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Production of cathode ray TVs likely to cease in 2015

All production of cathode ray tube TVs is likely to end as early as next year, as Sharp Corp. and two companies in India will withdraw from the business due to the spread of high-definition liquid crystal TVs.

This means cathode ray tube TVs, an icon for decades in Japan, will disappear from the market.

Sharp currently manufactures and sells cathode ray tube TVs in the Philippines, but the company has announced it will end production by spring next year.

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