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Markets mostly down on housing concerns

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes inched lower in early action Friday as an unexpectedly strong durable goods report bowed to anticipated housing concerns.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 11.38 points, or 0.09 percent, to 13,224.50. The Nasdaq composite was down 3.34 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,538.36 and the Standard and Poor's 500 Index was up 0.46 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,462.96.

Bonds gained. The benchmark 10-year note gained 10/32, or $3.125 for every $1,000 invested, yielding 4.62 percent Friday.

The dollar was mixed. The dollar was at 115.87 yen from 116.06 yen late Thursday. The euro traded at $1.3624 from $1.3562 late Thursday.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4 percent and closed at 16,249.

Oil prices rally after slow start

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices, which ended higher Thursday for the first time this week, again passed the $70-a-barrel level

Prices were up 39 cents to $70.22 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Other energy prices were on the negative side early. Natural gas was down 0.06 cents at $5.56 per million British thermal units. Heating oil was down 0.72 cents at $1.9538 a gallon and reformulated gas fell 0.48 cents at $1.9184 a gallon.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at the pump was $2.768, just more than a penny less than Thursday’s price, the AAA said in its Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

New housing starts show unexpected increase

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The battered U.S. housing industry got some good news Friday when new home sales defied odds and expectations and reflected a modest increase.

Sales of single-family homes increased by 2.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 870,000, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday. June new-home sales fell 4 percent an annual rate to 846,000; originally, the government said June sales dropped by 6.6 percent to 834,000.

The median estimate of 23 economists surveyed by Dow Jones was a 1.4 percent decline in July sales to an 822,000 annual rate.

Year over year, new-home sales were 10.2 percent lower than the level in July 2006, The Wall Street Journal said.

The sickly housing sector has pulled down U.S. economic growth for six straight quarters. Groundbreakings by home builders in July fell to the lowest level in 10 years.

Long-term U.S. budget seen 'unsustainable'

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The long-term U.S. budget outlook is “unsustainable” though increased tax revenue has cut into the deficit more than expected, a government report said.

The Congressional Budget Office projected that the government will be $158 billion in the red in 2007, The Hill, a Washington newspaper, said Friday. That’s $19 billion less than predicted in March.

Additional revenue, mostly from individual income taxes, was credited for the more positive picture.

But, the prediction for 2009 an 2010 calls for the deficit to rise to a greater share of the gross domestic product.

“Over the long term,” the CBO said, “the budget remains on an unsustainable path."

Congress seeks tainted Chinese toy info

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- With the holiday season nearing, U.S. lawmakers were reported seeking answers from 19 companies that recalled lead-tainted toys imported from China this year.

The U.S. House Commerce Committee, planning a Sept. 19 hearing on the matter, said it was trying to understand how "dangerous products" continued to flood stores and vending machines.

"These massive recalls of lead-contaminated products raise serious concerns," said U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the Commerce Committee chairman, indicating the matter was gaining momentum as a political issue, the Financial Times reported.