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U.S. stocks continue sliding

NEW YORK, July 26 (UPI) -- U.S. tech stocks led the broader market lower Monday, despite strong second quarter earnings and a respectable if modest outlook for the rest of 2004.

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The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 16.52 or 0.17 percent to 9,945.70 in early afternoon trading. The Nasdaq composite index gave up 11.36 or 0.61 percent to 1,837.73, and the Standard & Poor's 500-index lost 3.59 or 0.33 percent to 1,082.61.

"People remained concerned about earnings in the second half, volume is light, and until we get some sizzling news on the economy, those concerns will remain," said Peter Cardillo, chief market analyst at S.W. Bach.

He said Monday's existing housing sales report was upbeat, but not upbeat enough to inject any optimism into traders, CNN reported.

The 10-year Treasury note lost 1/4 point, or $2.50 for each $1,000 invested, for a 4.47 percent yield.

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The dollar fell to 110.02 yen, down from 110.12, as the euro rose to $1.2143 from $1.2103.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei stock average of 225 issues closed down 27.78 or 0.25 percent, at 11,159.55.


Spain's BSCH to buy Abbey National

LONDON, July 26 (UPI) -- Spain's biggest bank, Banco Santander Central Hispano, will pay $15.6 billion in cash and stock to buy Britain's Abbey National bank.

Analysts say the deal will create one of the world's top 10 banks by market value, the BBC reported Monday.

Abbey investors, including about 2 million small shareholders, are expected to approve the proposed deal.

Although little known in the United Kingdom, Santander has used its Latin heritage to build a sizeable presence around the world. It has an estimated 10 percent share of the Latin American market and operates out of bases in Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Overall, it has 22 million customers in 30 countries.

BSCH described the Abbey National deal as a "an attractive platform" through which to enter the British banking market, saying it had "significant potential."

An aggressive buyer of other banks, BSCH has spent more than $30 billion on acquisitions in the past seven years under chairman Emilio Botin.

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British unions get new rights, benefits

LONDON, July 26 (UPI) -- Britain's Labor government will give the nation's unionized workers eight extra paid days off in exchange for election donations.

Union leaders hailed the deal, hammered out during weekend negotiations, the Independent said Monday.

Labor officials had been seriously concerned about the party's finances following the decision by the GMB general union to withhold $1.37 million from Labor's election "fighting fund."

Other concessions achieved over the weekend include ending the practice under which employers can count bank holidays towards the minimum holiday entitlement of 20 days a year.

The Labor government also agreed to stop opposing a European Union directive seeking to ensure that agency and temporary workers enjoy similar rights to permanent employees.

However, there was no agreement on union demands for the government to re-nationalize, nor any commitment to union demands that companies be forced to contribute to workers' pension funds.


China promotes minimum wage law

BEIJING, July 26 (UPI) -- China embarked on a nationwide campaign over the weekend to promote public awareness of minimum wage regulations established earlier this year.

Zhang Mingqi, a member of the state-run All-China Federation of Trade Unions, was quoted in a Xinhua report Sunday saying all of China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities with the exception of Tibet have created minimum wage systems.

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Regulations issued on March 1 this year creating a minimum wage apply to state enterprises, government offices and privately run firms.

Minimum wage in China is calculated on a monthly, not an hourly, basis and is not uniform nationwide. Xinhua listed the wage figures for three cities: Beijing ($60); Shanghai ($69); and Shenzhen ($73).

China does not allow the existence of independent unions or other labor organizations advocating workers' rights outside the control of the Communist Party and government apparatus.

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