Also

* Home Depot Inc. said the Securities and Exchange Commission had begun an informal inquiry tied to its stock-option practices and procedures.

* Sunnyvale, Calif.-based semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., lured by about $1 billion in state incentives, will build a chip plant in New York, creating 2,000 jobs.

* Shares of San Diego-based Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. plunged $3.96, or 28%, to $9.85, after its partner, Pfizer Inc., dropped out of a collaboration to develop and market a sleep drug.