Wall Street rose moderately in early trading Monday as a major acquisition by Nokia ()helped offset trader unease over profit warnings from two major global banks.

In the first few minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.41, or 0.33 percent, to 13,942.04.

Broader market indexes were slightly higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.09, or 0.33 percent, to 1,531.84; and the Nasdaq composite index rose 12.80, or 0.47 percent, at 2,714.30.

Nokia’s $8.1 billion offer to buy navigation-software maker Navteq Corp. () reassured traders that acquisition activity might pick up as Wall Street begins the fourth quarter. The deal was seen as a signal that corporations are feeling comfortable in making big moves despite recent market turbulence.

However, enthusiasm about the deal was tempered after both Citigroup Inc. () and Switzerland’s UBS AG () warned that credit market upheaval took its toll on third-quarter results. Citi said profit will fall 60 percent, while UBS expects a loss for the period.

Investors also awaited key data on the health of the manufacturing sector. The Institute for Supply Management is expected to report that manufacturing activity grew at roughly the same rate in September as in August, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Financial. Later in the week, investors will watch for readings on the health of the service sector and employment.

ZURICH, Switzerland—UBS SA (), the largest Swiss bank, said Monday it would post a pretax loss of up to $690 million in the third quarter mainly because of losses linked to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.

The losses will hit UBS’s Investment Bank, but “our Global Wealth Management & Business Banking and Global Asset Management businesses continue to record good results,” said a company statement.

The loss will result in the shedding of 1,500 jobs from the bank’s work force of 80,000 people by the end of this year, Chief Executive Marcel Rohner said in a conference call.

He also said the bank was making changes in top management as a result of the losses, and that he would take over as investment banking chief, replacing Huw Jenkins, who will step down to become an adviser. Group Chief Financial Officer Clive Standish will retire, Rohner said.

“UBS operates on the principle that management is accountable to shareholders,” he said. “These events have led to the management changes announced today.”

“Following a write down of positions in fixed income, rates and currencies, mainly related to deteriorating conditions in the U.S. subprime residential mortgage market, UBS is likely to record an overall group pretax loss of between 600 million francs and 800 million francs ($515 million to $690 million) for the third quarter, ended Sept. 30,” a bank statement said.

It said pretax profits for the first nine months of 2007 will be about $8.6 billion.

Rohner noted that when second quarter results were announced in August he said that UBS could expect a “very weak trading result in the Investment Bank” if turbulent conditions continue to prevail throughout the quarter.

“In fact, conditions remained turbulent, so we will make an overall pretax loss at group level for the quarter,” he said.

UBS’s share price dropped 3.8 percent to $51.79 in trading on the Zurich exchange.

NEW YORK —Christmas started in September this year Д at least in the toy aisles at Wal-Mart Stores Inc Д even as retailers worry that parents may approach toy shopping with trepidation this holiday season after massive numbers of toys were recalled in recent months.

So to jump-start holiday shopping, the world’s largest retailer began cutting prices on toys in its stores on Sunday, September 30, and will be introducing special price cuts on hot toys each week during October.

“It’s a little bit earlier and a little bit deeper,” Laura Phillips, Wal-Mart’s chief toy officer, said of the timing of this year’s holiday toy promotions and the size of the price reductions.

For instance, this weekend Wal-Mart () cut the price on the Fisher-Price Kid Tough Digital Camera to $54.88 Д down from $64.88. The camera, aimed at children ages 3 and older, was one of last holiday season’s hottest selling items.

The price cuts come as U.S. retailers gear up for the all-important holiday shopping season amid an uncertain economic environment.

Last week, Lowe’s Cos Inc () issued an earnings warning, while Target Corp () slashed its September sales forecast, fueling concerns that the holiday shopping season will be one of the weakest in years.

The National Retail Federation has already forecast that U.S. holiday sales will rise at their slowest pace in five years.

The price cuts also come after millions of toys bearing the “Made in China” label were recalled in recent months mainly due to unsafe levels of lead paint. Lead paint has been linked to health problems in children, including brain damage.

Wal-Mart has already asked its suppliers to resubmit testing documentation for the toys it sells in its stores and has hired independent laboratories to conduct an average of 200 additional tests each day.

It is also looking to stock its shelves with more products made closer to home.

“We have increased our orders with a couple of made-in-the- U.S. suppliers,” Phillips said, adding that those items, such as plastic cars and kitchen sets, should reach its stores in November.

Phillips said Wal-Mart has worked for a year to ensure it will have enough supply of the toys it is promoting to last through the holidays, although it is hoping the price cuts will convince shoppers to start their holiday toy shopping this month.

It will sell Hasbro Inc’s () “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” game for $10, down from $18.96, and it will offer the Razor Ripstik Caster Board, which is a cross between a skateboard and a snowboard, for $77.77 instead of $93.93.

At the moment, this year’s holiday season lacks one dominant hot toy, like last year’s T.M.X. Elmo from Fisher-Price, a unit of Mattel Inc ().

But Wal-Mart expects there will be some fresh excitement in the toy aisle in November when Fisher-Price introduces a new Elmo doll.

While Phillips declined to provide details on the newest version of Elmo, she said Wal-Mart has worked hard to make sure it will have an adequate supply of the doll to satisfy its holiday shoppers.