September trading starts strong
NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- September, usually a weak month, started its first day of trading on an upbeat note, with the Dow Jones industrial average reaching a 14-month high.
Following the usual recess for Labor Day, the Dow finished up 107.45, or 1.14 percent, at 9,523.27 on volume of 1.4 billion shares. Nasdaq's composite index rose 31.03, or 1.71 percent, to 1,841.48 while Standard and Poor's 500 Index added 13.98, or 1.39 percent, to close at 1,021.99.
The Institute for Supply Management reported Tuesday its monthly index of manufacturing activity was up for the second consecutive month. It rose 54.7 in August compared with 51.8 in July. That well exceeded economists' predictions of 53.5.
The dollar closed at 116.475 yen, while the euro was at $1.0815, compared with $1.0982 Monday afternoon in London.
NYMEX crude tumbles below $30/bbl
NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Crude prices were dramatically lower in New York Tuesday on the day after the last of the big summer driving holidays.
October barrels tumbled more than $2 and were trading around $29.40 at midday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
October gasoline was softer as well, down more than 6 cents at around 92.8 cents per gallon.
Analysts were saying the retreat came after the Labor Day weekend passed without any major upsets, and with the traditional end of the summer vacation season. In addition, European crude fell on Monday while NYMEX was closed, which added a shot of pent-up bearishness to the U.S. market.
Vivendi Universal to merge with NBC
NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- France's Vivendi Universal announced Tuesday plans to merge with General Electric's NBC division.
The new company would have one of the broadest reaches of any television media company. G.E. would own 80 percent while Vivendi would own the remaining 20 percent.
The holdings of the new company would include, the NBC Television Network and a portfolio of cable networks, including USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, CNBC and MSNBC, which is owned jointly owned with Microsoft.
The merger is valued at about $3.8 billion with the reduction in debt of some $1.6 billion.
A new trade war looms at the WTO
BRUSSELS, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A new trade dispute may be brewing at the World Trade Organization over a European Union move to protect the names of certain foodstuffs, such as Champagne.
Radio Free Europe said a list being submitted by the EU also contains such famous names as Beaujolais, Chianti, Moselle, ouzo, Rioja, and Madeira. Cheeses are also included, such as feta from Greece and Gorgonzola from Italy.
The EU says at the WTO meeting in Mexico Sept. 10 it will submit the names of 41 foodstuffs it wants protected against usage by anyone except the original European producing country or region.
Gregor Kreuzhueber, agriculture spokesman for the European Commission, told RFE: "Basically, traditional names, which are European names, are exploited at the expense of European exporters. We don't expect this to go through [the WTO] without any problems, but ... this is something we will very much insist on in the next weeks and months to come in the WTO negotiations."
