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Pfizer deal leads Dow Jones higher US shares boosted by jobs report
(about 20 hours later)
(Close): US drugmaker Pfizer led the Dow Jones on Thursday after clinching a deal to buy rival Hospira. (Open): There were modest gains for US shares in early trading on Friday.
Pfizer was the Dow's best performer, adding 3%% following the announcement of the $17bn takeover. Confidence was boosted by a strong report on the US jobs market. Data for December showed the economy created more than 200,000 jobs for the 11th consecutive month.
Hospira did even better, soaring 35%. The Dow Jones was 0.25% higher at 17,920, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% at 2,068 and the tech-focused Nasdaq was up just slightly at 4,770.
Overall, the Dow Jones was up 211.86 points at 17,884.88, while the S&P 500 was 21.01 points higher at 2,062.52 and the tech-focused Nasdaq rose 48.39 points to 4,765.10. Twitter shares soared 14% after its results late on Thursday.
Pfizer's takeover of Hospira has already been approved by the boards of both firms. It reported a net loss of $125m (£82m) in the fourth-quarter, beating analyst expectations.
Pfizer has agreed to pay $90 a share in cash for Hospira, which makes sterile injectable treatments and biosimilar drugs. It also said revenue grew faster than expected, increasing by 95% to $479m during the October to December period.
Pfizer said its rival's range of products was complementary to its own. Total monthly active users were 288 million, an increase of 20% from the year earlier.
In trading after markets had closed, shares in networking site LinkedIn rose nearly 7% after the company reported its 15th consecutive quarter of earnings that beat expectations. LinkedIn shares jumped almost 13% after the networking website reported its 15th consecutive quarter of earnings that beat expectations.
LinkedIn reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit to $3.1m compared to $3.8m a year earlier. Revenue rose by 44% to $632m in the October to December period, significantly higher than had been expected.
However, revenue rose by 44% to $632m in the October to December period, significantly higher than had been expected. Rates worry
The strength of the labour market has prompted some analysts to revise their views on when the US Federal Reserve might start to raise interest rates.
"Another employment report like this one for February and the stock market will most likely have to start getting its mind around a rate hike actually happening in mid-2015 after all," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.