NEW YORK (AP) — Energy companies are tugging U.S. stocks lower as the price of oil slips below $80 a barrel. The energy sector is down 2 percent, the biggest decline among the 10 S&P 500 sectors. Overall, however the declines in the major indexes are relatively small.

DETROIT (AP) — For the eighth year running, Toyota remains atop Consumer Reports’ annual reliability rankings. The company’s Toyota and Lexus brands top the survey, while its Scion brand also made the top ten. Consumer Reports says Toyota’s strategy of slowly introducing new features emphasizes reliability over excitement. Many brands with new electronics that have had some glitches, including Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz, fell in the rankings.

NEW YORK (AP) — A large group of U.S. companies are reporting financial results this week. Merck led off today, sayings its earnings fell in the third quarter as pharmaceutical sales sank 4 percent. The drug company also scaled back its most optimistic forecasts for full-year profits and sales. The news has knocked Merck’s stock down more than two and a-half percent.

NEW YORK (AP) — Australian drugmaker CSL Ltd. says it will buy Novartis’ flu vaccine business for $275 million. CSL Ltd. says the deal will make it the second-largest flu vaccine maker in the world. The company predicts revenue could reach $1 billion a year in three to five years. Novartis expects to ship about 60 million doses of its seasonal influenza vaccines for the 2014-2015 season.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A floating natural gas terminal has arrived in a Lithuanian port as the Baltic country tries to further reduce its reliance on energy supplies from Russia. The three Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia get all their natural gas from Russia and lack connections to the wider European pipeline system that would allow them to import from elsewhere.

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