U.S. stocks close up after Fed holds rates
NEW YORK, March 21 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes closed up Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it would hold interest rates steady, despite continued inflation concerns.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 159.42 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 12,447.52. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index added 24.10, or 1.71 percent, to 1,435.04.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,748 stocks advanced and 581 declined on volume of 3.24 billion shares traded.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index moved up 32.56, or 1.35 percent, to 2,440.77.
In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 36.50, or 0.59 percent, to 6,256.80 -- its highest close in three weeks -- after Finance Minister Gordon Brown said income and corporate taxes would be cut next year.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended the day up 153.65, or 0.9 percent, at 17,163.20.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 4/32, yielding 4.542 percent, while the 30-year bond rose 5/32, yielding 4.719 percent.
The U.S. dollar rose to 117.57 yen from 117.25 yen late Tuesday in New York. The euro rose to $1.3383 from $1.3321.
Chrysler hopes to resolve sale quickly
NAPLES, Fla., March 21 (UPI) -- Chrysler Group Chief Executive Tom LaSorda told dealers in a Florida meeting Wednesday the decision to sell or not sell the company would be resolved soon.
"He assured us that it wouldn't drag on," a dealer at the meeting told The Wall Street Journal.
Chrysler parent DaimlerChrysler AG hopes to have initial proposals by the end of this month, just before the German company's April 4 general shareholder's meeting, the newspaper said.
Private-equity firms Cerberus Capital Management and a group led by Blackstone Group and Centerbridge Partners LP have begun studying Chrysler, the newspaper said.
Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. also is interested in Chrysler, other reports have said.
DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said Feb. 14 all options for Chrysler were open, including a sale.
Separately, Chrysler said Wednesday it would cut 635 additional jobs at two plants in Fenton, Mo., near St. Louis, in addition to the 1,300 announced Feb. 14.
The additional cuts are intended to improve plant efficiencies, a Chrysler spokeswoman said.
Reports: David Stockman may be indicted
WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- U.S. prosecutors are preparing criminal indictments against David Stockman, the former Reagan administration budget director, published reports said Wednesday.
Stockman, ousted chairman of Collins & Aikman Corp., is expected to be indicted as early as Monday for alleged improper accounting and for allegedly misleading investors shortly before the suburban Detroit auto-parts maker filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2005, The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reported.
The company filed for the protection days after firing Stockman for allegedly failing to inform board members about its mounting financial woes.
Stockman and others could also be charged with bank fraud and phony transactions designed to boost income, the Journal said.
Stockman attorneys met with law enforcement authorities in New York last week in an unsuccessful effort to quash the criminal charges, the Post reported.
The Security and Exchange Commission is expected to issue similar charges against Stockman and several other senior lower-level Collins & Aikman executives, the newspapers said.
Collins & Aikman itself is not expected to be charged, the Journal said.
People familiar with Stockman's defense said he did not make money from his actions and in fact personally lost an estimated $13 million, the Journal said.
Germany plans 26 coal-fired plants
BERLIN, March 21 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports constructing 26 coal-fired power plants, despite her strong environmental stance, a published report said Wednesday.
The plants proposed by Germany's four major utilities -- Vattenfall AB, RWE AG, E.on AG and Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG -- would generate large amounts of so-called greenhouse gases, despite Germany's pledge to reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions 40 percent by 2020, Der Spiegel reported.
One Vattenfall plant would burn up 2 million tons of inexpensive Polish coal a year to provide 800 megawatts of electricity and 600 megawatts of heat, the magazine said.
A black coal plant emits 949 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour, the magazine said. The lowest rank of coal, known as lignite, or brown coal, emits 1,153 grams.
By contrast, a natural gas-fired plant produces just 428 grams and a nuclear plant's emissions are "practically zero," the magazine said.
Merkel says the plants would create thousands of jobs and spur $40 billion in German investment. They would also replace older, dirtier plants.
