bid contracts to the company for services in Iraq. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Merck & Co.'s new pain reliever Arcoxia, was «approvable» pending further review of clinical data. Arcoxia, which Merck hopes will replace the discredited Vioxx arthritis drug, was not expected to be approved. Merck lost 26 cents to $31.31. Merck rival Bristol Myers-Squibb Co. slipped 58 cents to $23.43 after the drug maker reported a 16 percent drop in profits for the third quarter. The company's results were in line with Wall Street expectations. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.5 billion shares, compared with 1.63 billion at the same point on Thursday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 1.84, or 0.31 percent, at 583.79.
