Also. . .

* AT&T; Corp. is in talks with its largest union to cut 2,400 to 3,000 technician jobs, about 2% of its total work force, in a move to save $200 million a year. The Communications Workers of America said the planned cuts represent half or more of the skilled technicians who maintain the long-distance company’s network. AT&T; confirmed the range of planned cuts and said it has proposed a severance package that includes 80 to 104 weeks of pay based on seniority. If the targeted number of employees don’t agree to leave, layoffs would follow, an AT&T; spokesman said. AT&T; employs 140,000 people worldwide. The CWA represents 42,000 U.S. workers at AT&T.;

* Firstar Corp. agreed to acquire Mercantile Bancorp Inc. in a $10.6-billion stock-swap deal that would create the nation’s 13th-largest bank, with assets of more than $75 billion. Under the deal, announced after the markets closed, Mercantile’s holders would receive 2.091 Firstar shares for each Mercantile share owned. On the NYSE, Milwaukee-based Firstar closed down $1.50 at $30.06; Mercantile rose $5.75 to close at $57.

* Iomega Corp., maker of Zip and Jaz computer drives and disks, will close its facilities in San Diego and Milpitas, Calif., cutting an undisclosed number of jobs, starting in July.

* Lockheed Martin Corp. won a $1.4-billion order to supply Greece with at least 50 F-16 fighter jets, trumping rival Boeing Co.’s F-15H.

* Kaiser Permanente Group reported first-quarter profit from operations of $56 million--its first profitable quarter since 1997--as it raised premiums on some of its largest customers by more than 10%. The health maintenance organization had an operating loss of $106 million a year ago.