Mittal comes closer to Arcelo
London: Mittal Steel is said to be coming closer to Arcelor and is in "advanced" and "constructive" discussions with the European steelmaker Arcelor, which could lead to a deal to join the world's top two steelmakers.

According to Bloomberg, "Mittal Steel is in advanced and constructive discussions with Arcelor which may or may not lead to a recommended transaction," a Mittal spokesman said Friday. Sources familiar with the situation said Mittal is likely to raise its euro 23.2bn offer to win support from Arcelor's board, which meets on Sunday to decide between Mittal's offer and an alternative deal to buy Russia's Severstal.

If the deal goes through it would be a major reversal for Arcelor which had rubbished Mittal's bid, its family ownership structure and the quality of its steel since Mittal first went public in late January.
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Generic Versions of Zocor Approved
Merck & Co's first generic versions of the anti-cholesterol drug Zocor (simvastatin) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Even though generic versions of Zocor will be available, the drugs will still require a prescription. Generic simvastatin in 5 mg. 10 mg., 20 mg., and 40 mg. doses will be produced by IVAX Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Northvale, N.J.

Zocor is the 2nd-best selling statin drug in the United States behind Pfizer's Lipitor. Statins, designed to control high cholesterol and other fatty substances in the blood, accounted for $16 billion in U.S. sales last year, according to the FDA.

An 80 mg. dose of the drug will be made by Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Princeton, N.J. Merck's patent on the drug expired Friday.
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Nokia's pullout from CDMA not to affect profits: Qualcomm
Qualcomm Inc has said handset maker Nokia's decision to stop making cellphones based on Qualcomm's CDMA technology would not impact its 2006 financial outlook or the growth of the wireless technology.

Earlier on Thursday Nokia scrapped plans for a venture with Japan's Sanyo Electric Co Ltd. to produce phones based on CDMA, leading to concerns about CDMA's growth prospects and the venture's technology-licensing terms.

Qualcomm said it was not surprised by Nokia's withdrawal from the CDMA business because it felt the Finnish handset was not too successful with CDMA. Nokia, the world's biggest cellphone maker, and Qualcomm, that designs chips for CDMA, have in the past fought over everything from competition rules and technology standard setting to licensing fees.

Qualcomm's shares fell 6 percent on Thursday on news of Nokia's pull back from CDMA phones, which raised concerns about the prospects of CDMA and disappointed investors who saw the venture as a boost in demand for Qualcomm chips.

CDMA is the main wireless technology used in the United States, but globally only has a 25 percent to 30 percent share of mobile subscribers. GSM is used by about 70 percent of the world's 2 billion cellphone users.

Analysts said Nokia's decision was unlikely to affect Qualcomm's performance this year, but could signal a wider shift away from the CDMA2000 standard toward GSM.
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Bush team told to hold firm at WTO
Washington: U.S. senators have urged the President George W. Bush's administration not to back down from a U.S. proposal on farm trade at a key world trade meeting in Geneva next week.

The United States is coming under pressure from the European Union and the G20 group of developing countries to break a stalemate in World Trade Organization negotiations for a new world trade pact. They want it to offer deeper cuts to its trade distorting farm subsidies than it already has and scale back demands for other countries to slash duties on imported farm goods.

Ministers from some 50 countries, around one-third of the WTO membership, will meet in Geneva from June 29 to try to agree on a blueprint for cutting subsidies and tariffs in agriculture and manufacturing.

Last October the United States offered to cut its most trade-distorting farm subsidies by 60 percent if other countries cut their farm tariffs by up to 95 percent.
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