U.S. stocks mixed on economic data
NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks were mixed Tuesday after crude oil fell below $58 per barrel and the third-quarter employment cost index showed rising salaries and benefits.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.73 or 0.12 percent to 12,071.77 in late-morning trading. The Nasdaq composite rose 2.38 or 0.10 percent to 2,366.15, and the Standard & Poor's 500 slipped 1.11 or 0.08 percent to 1,376.82.
The Labor Department data on employment costs was higher than had been expected, and easing geopolitical issues continued to cut crude oil prices.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 3/32, trimming its yield to 4.66 percent.
The dollar rose to 117.80 yen from 117.40, as the euro declined to $1.2709 from $1.2730.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed at 16,399.39 on a gain of 47.54 or 0.29 percent.
Bank of Japan sees weaker inflation
TOKYO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The Bank of Japan has lowered its outook for inflation in the next fiscal year, the Kyodo news agency said Tuesday.
But Governor Toshihiko Fukui, introducing the central bank's semi-annual report, said the national bank still forecasts gradually rising prices.
The Bank of Japan said it will not eliminate the possibility of a second key interest rate hike by the year's end. Fukui repeated the central bank "will leave options open" on the timing of changes in its monetary policy.
"We do not have a preset view on the timing of policy change and I am sure we will be able to learn about the right timing -- neither too late, nor too early -- eventually," Fukui said.
The BoJ expects 0.5 percent inflation in terms of the consumer price index in fiscal 2007, down from a 0.8 percent year-on-year CPI rise forecast in the previous April report.
Ford says next year's output to be cut
DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. will cut North American production of new cars and trucks by 8 percent to 12 percent in the first half of next year.
The news follows Ford's historic production cut of 21 percent planned for the last three months of this year, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.
A Ford spokesman said output may be increased in the second half of 2007, a claim some industry observers find dubious.
Burnham Securities auto analyst Dave Healy, who estimates Ford will cut North American production 9 percent in 2007, compared with 2006 volumes, called claims of a second half 2007 production hike "a misleading improvement" because of the ongoing production cuts this year.
Trammel Crow to be sold for $2.2 billion
DALLAS, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. will buy big U.S. homebuilder Trammel Crow Co. in a deal worth about $2.2 billion.
The all-cash deal, which includes debt assumption, will create the first commercial real estate services company to qualify for the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations.
CB Richard Ellis said Tuesday in a news release that upon completion of the agreement, set for no later than early next year, the combined entity will have revenues of about $4.4 billion and 21,000 employees.
CB Richard Ellis said it will borrow $2.2 billion to pay for Trammel Crow and also amend its existing $600 million revolving credit facility.
Finally, it expects to sell Trammel Crow's 20-percent stake in Savil PLC, a real estate services provider in Britain.
