U.S. stocks up with Dow near 11,000
NEW YORK, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Mergers and acquisitions helped lift U.S. stocks Monday as the Dow Jones industrial average approached 11,000.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 8.90 or 0.08 percent to 10,968.21 in late-morning trading. The Nasdaq composite was up 3.46 or 0.15 percent to 2,309.08, and the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 0.66 or 0.05 percent to 1.286.11.
The last time the Dow Jones industrial, which is coming off a flat year in 2005, was at 11,000 was in 2001.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 1/32, or 31 cents for every $1,000 invested, to yield 4.381 percent.
The dollar fell to 114.10 yen from 114.42, and the euro slipped to $1.2083 from $1.2154.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 settled at 16,428.21 after gaining 2.84 or 0.02 percent.
Kremlin in fresh gas price war with Europe
SOFIA, Bulgaria, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The Kremlin, fresh off a failed bid to more than quadruple what it charges Ukraine for natural gas, wants to impose similar sharp price hikes on three other European nations.
OAO Gazprom, Moscow's giant state-owned natural gas monopoly, indicated late last week it wants to triple the price it gets from Bulgaria, Moldova and Turkey, the Times of London reported.
Bulgaria immediately denounced the move as a commodity-based form of blackmail and vowed to reject any price hike.
A spokesman for Gazprom, which suffered a public relations setback recently in Europe when it cut off gas to Ukraine and other European nations as a way to pressure Kiev for more money, quickly promised that its differences with Bulgaria would be handled "in a civilized manner," an apparent reference to the stand-off it had with Kiev.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin suspended for a seventh day gas supplies to Moldova over its refusal to accept a big price hike. Ankara had no public comment on Moscow's latest demand for higher natural gas prices.
Toyota shuts Indian plant after strike
BIDADI, India, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Toyota Motor Corp. closed an Indian factory after a strike that began late last week over the disciplining of 13 workers.
Three employees were fired and 10 suspended for alleged violations of a conduct code, the company said. On Friday about 400 employees of the factory that makes Corollas and Camrys blocked the road leading to the Bangalore-area facility, the BBC reported Monday.
About 1,550 of the plant's 2,350 workers are affiliated with the union. The factory can make 60,000 vehicles per year.
"We were forced to declare a lockout because the safety of our officers and machines was threatened by the striking employees," said A.R. Shankar, general manager of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts factory.
"We would like to restore normalcy as soon as possible, but at the same time we would not like to compromise on discipline," he said.
Workers' representatives and managers were set to meet early this week for talks.
Boston Scientific offers $25B for Guidant
NATICK, Mass., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Boston Scientific Corp. is offering $25 billion to buy Guidant Corp. and has arranged for the sale of some Guidant assets if its bid is accepted.
BSC's proposal, submitted Sunday to Indianapolis-based Guidant, challenges New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson, which expects a Jan. 31 Guidant shareholder meeting to result in the approval of its $22 billion takeover offer.
BSC said its cash-and-stock offer translates into a Guidant share price of $72, is 12 percent higher than the amount J&J is offering.
The Massachusetts device maker also said that if its weekend offer for Guidant succeeds, it has arranged to sell Guidant's vascular business for $4.3 billion, which would be expected to ease antitrust concerns.
China buys into Nigerian oil fields
LAGOS, Nigeria, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- China's state-owned Cnooc Ltd. is paying $2.268 billion for a 45-percent share of a Nigerian oil venture.
The money, which Cnooc is paying to South Atlantic Petroleum Ltd., gets it a 45-percent share of an offshore oil production license, the Hong-Kong energy giant said Monday.
The license area, which is operated by France's Total SA, covers an area of about 500 square miles in the Niger Delta and has water depths from 4,000 feet to 6,000 feet.
Total has identified four oil fields in the license area, all of which are set for commercial production.
