Friday News Update: Climate Conference, US Stocks and Cancer Drug Succeeds in Trial

In today’s news update we have links on Obama at the Climate Conference, US stocks and cancer drug information.

Obama Tries to Rally U.N. Climate Conference, but Deadlock Persists

COPENHAGEN — President Obama exhorted world leaders today “not to talk, but to act” as they scrambled in the closing hours of a historic U.N. global warming summit to salvage an agreement to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.

Behind the scenes, dozens of presidents and prime ministers worked on a three-page document that they hope will become the lone outcome of the two-week negotiations here.

US Stocks Open Higher, Led By Technology Sector; DJIA Up 43

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–U.S. stocks opened higher Friday, led by technology stocks as a number of companies within the sector including Research In Motion and Oracle posted quarterly earnings above analysts’ estimates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 43 points, or 0.4%, to 10351, in early trading. Technology components Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were among the measure’s best performers, up 0.8% each.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.4%, with its technology sector in the lead. Consumer staples stocks made up the only S&P 500 sector in the red.

UPDATE 2-Celgene’s cancer drug Revlimid succeeds in trial

BOSTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Celgene Corp (CELG.O) said on Friday that initial results from a clinical trial showed that multiple myeloma patients who took its drug Revlimid following a stem cell transplant had a 58 percent reduction in risk of their disease progressing.

The company’s shares rose 7.2 percent to $54.26 in premarket trading.

Revlimid is already approved in combination with dexamethasone to treat patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior treatment.