HEADLINE STOCKS-Some U.S. stocks to watch on July 2

NEW YORK, July 2 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks to watch on Friday:

ELAN CORP (ELN.N)

JOHNSON & JOHNSON (JNJ.N)

J&J will take over most of Elan's Alzheimer's research and invest $1 billion in new Elan equity in exchange for an 18.4 percent stake in the drugmaker. [ID:nL2891369]

U.S.-listed shares of Elan surged 27 percent to $8.87 in premarket trading while J&J, a Dow component, closed Wednesday at $57.07.

EXELON CORP (EXC.N)

NRG ENERGY INC (NRG.N)

Exelon raised its hostile takeover bid for NRG to $7.45 billion, citing newly identified cost savings and NRG's recent acquisition of Reliant Energy's retail business. [ID:nBNG512453]

Shares of Exelon closed Wednesday at $51.56 while NRG rose 3.6 percent to $27 in premarket trading.

U.S. BANCORP (USB.N)

U.S. Bancorp is eyeing expansion in the western United States, as it prepares to soon extinguish the government warrants to buy its stock, Chief Executive Richard Davis said. [ID:nN01528998]

Shares closed Wednesday at $17.58.

UNITEDHEALTH GROUP (UNH.N)

A U.S. federal judge granted UnitedHealth final approval for the settlement of a 2007 shareholder lawsuit related to past stock options practices, court documents show. [ID:nBNG484252]

Shares closed Wednesday at $25.16.

ACURA PHARMACEUTICALS INC (ACUR.O)