Merck, Schering-Plough cut losses on Vytorin study

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Merck & Co briefly turned positive on Monday and those of Schering Plough sharply pared losses after the outcome of a new study of their Vytorin cholesterol fighter was announced.

Shares of Merck, a Dow component, were last off 1.5 percent at $37.10 on the New York Stock Exchange, recovering from an earlier slide of more than 5 percent.

Shares of Schering-Plough were down 6.2 percent at $20.09 on the NYSE, after having dropped by as much as 15 percent before the outcome of the study was published.

(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Leslie Adler)