U.S. stocks close slightly down
NEW YORK, June 18 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks fell for the first time in four trading sessions Monday amid climbing oil prices and interest rate fears.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26.50, or 0.19 percent, to 13,612.98.
The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 1.86, or 0.12 percent, to 1,531.05. The Nasdaq composite index was steady, off just 0.11 to 2,626.60.
Declines outpaced advancers 1,729 to 1,591 on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 2.56 billion shares. Analysts blamed part of the decline on last week's quadruple witching expirations.
The 10-year note was up $1.5625 for every $1,000 invested, 5.13 percent Monday.
The dollar closed mixed. The euro rose to $1.3416 Monday from $1.3380 late Friday while the dollar traded at 123.66 yen, up from 123.47 yen Friday
The FTSE 100 Index in Britain was flat at 6,729.60.
The Nikkei 225 Average closed Monday 1 percent higher at 18,150.
Index: Home builder confidence slides
WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- Concerns about subprime mortgage-related problems and rising prime mortgage rates eroded U.S. builder confidence in June, an industry group said Monday.
After falling 2 points to 28, the Housing Market Index reported its lowest level in its current cycle and reached the lowest point since February 1991, the National Home Builders Association said in a news release.
"It's clear that the crisis in the subprime sector has prompted tighter lending standards in much of the mortgage market, and interest rates on prime-quality home mortgages have moved up considerably during the past month along with long-term Treasury rates," said NHBA Chief Economist David Seiders in Washington.
Seiders said home sales likely would fall in the months ahead and improvements in housing starts probably won't be seen until early next year.
"As a result, we expect housing to exert a drag on economic growth during the balance of 2007," he said.
The components used in the index by NHBA/Wells Fargo declined in June. The index measuring current single-family sales fell 2 points to 29. The index gauging six-month sales expectations fell 2 points to 39. The index for prospective buyers fell 1 point to 21.
Supreme Court strikes down antitrust suit
WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- Antitrust laws don't apply to selling new stocks after they were initially offered on stock markets, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The 7-1 ruling written by Justice Stephen Breyer ruled federal securities regulations prevented the antitrust suit and held several Wall Street firms were immune from a class-action brought over alleged misconduct during an initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal reported.
At issue was whether certain agreements between investment banks and securities firms amounted to antitrust violations that could have supported a private antitrust lawsuit.
"We must interpret the securities laws as implicitly precluding the application of the antitrust laws to the conduct alleged in this case," Breyer wrote.
The antitrust suit accused the firms of illegally inflating prices and profit margins on IPOs during the late 1990s technology bubble.
Among the Wall Street firms sued were units of Credit Suisse Group, Bear Stearns Cos, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley.
Justice Clarence Thomas dissented and Justice Anthony Kennedy did not participate.
U.S. Supreme Court to decide pension case
WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will decide next term the case of a South Carolina man seeking to recover pension money lost because of alleged bad plan management.
In the case, James LaRue was barred by a federal appellate court from suing his employer for alleged mismanaging his pension, resulting in his losing about $150,000, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
LaRue sued his employer, DeWolff, Boberg & Associates Inc., a national management consulting firm, to recover losses he said happened in 2001 and 2002 when the firm didn't make investments in his retirement account as directed.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled that federal pension law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, didn't give LaRue the right to sue and recover losses to his pension account. The U.S. Solicitor General's Office, in a court brief, urged the justices to reverse the circuit court ruling, arguing it was wrong to bar the lawsuit over a "fiduciary breach" in LaRue's account.
