U.S. stocks rise on rate-cut expectations
NEW YORK, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes rose Monday on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut interest rates to boost the sagging U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 63.56 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 13,870.26. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 5.70 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,540.98.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,881 stocks rose and 1,350 declined on volume of 3.1 billion shares traded.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 13.25 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,817.44.
The Fed begins a two-day meeting Tuesday, with an announcement about interest rates expected Wednesday.
In London, the FTSE 100 index closed up 44.70 points, or 0.67 percent, at 6,706.00.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index finished the day up 192.45 points, or 1.17 percent, at 16,698.08. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index, or Topix, rose 2.1 percent to 1,606.49.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 4/32, yielding 4.385 percent, while the 30-year bond was up 16/32, yielding 4.666 percent.
The U.S. dollar rose to 114.63 yen from 114.23 yen in New York late Friday. The euro rose to $1.4422 from $1.4392.
Gap fires India firm, calls vendor meeting
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Gap Inc. has fired an Indian subcontractor accused of using child labor and called an urgent meeting with its suppliers, the U.S. company said Monday.
The meeting, to be held this week, will "reinforce our policy against child labor," Gap said.
The San Francisco retailer also told United Press International it would not sell any of the 700 children's shirts produced by children in a New Delhi sweatshop.
The shirts had been destined to be sold by U.S. and European GapKids stores this Christmas, a Gap spokesman told UPI Monday night.
Gap also said the children, some as young as 10, were now under the care of the local government.
"As our policy requires, the vendor with which our order was originally placed will be required to provide the children with access to schooling and job training, pay them an ongoing wage and guarantee them jobs as soon as they reach the legal working age," Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility Dan Henkle said.
Gap will work with the local government and Global March Against Child Labor "to ensure that our vendor fulfills these obligations," Henkle said.
Britain's Observer newspaper reported Sunday it had found children making Gap clothes in near-slave conditions. It quoted the children as saying their impoverished families sold them to the sweatshop, where they were beaten, threatened and forced to work long hours without pay.
EU seeks 'crisis' Q400 turboprop meeting
COLOGNE, Germany, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- European officials Monday called for an "immediate crisis meeting" to discuss the safety of Bombardier Inc.'s Q400 "Dash 8" turboprop planes.
The call followed an accident Saturday in which a Q400 operated by Scandinavian Airline Systems AB skidded along a Copenhagen runway after a landing gear failure.
The accident, which caused no serious injuries among the 44 people on board, was the third European-airport crash-landing of the Q400 regional aircraft in n seven weeks.
The European Union's European Aviation Safety Agency said it was "very concerned" about the accidents and called for "an immediate crisis meeting to discuss the continued airworthiness" of the aircraft.
It set no date for the meeting.
SAS, of Stockholm, Sweden -- the leading carrier in the Scandinavian countries -- permanently grounded its 27 Q400s Sunday.
"We need to get rid of these planes. They are damaging SAS and its brand," President Mats Jansson said.
The decision to ax the planes -- thereby canceling about 100 flights Monday and Tuesday, mostly out of Copenhagen, Denmark.-- was made at an extraordinary board meeting, Stockholm's The Local newspaper reported.
SAS said it would replace the turboprops with other planes in its fleet and with leased aircraft.
Bombardier, of Montreal, said it was disappointed by SAS's decision and insisted the Q400 was reliable.
Canadian dollar tops $1.05
TORONTO, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The Canadian dollar gained more than one U.S. cent Monday to top $1.05 -- a 47-year high -- before retreating slightly.
The Canadian currency closed at $1.0496, making a U.S. dollar worth 95.27 Canadian cents, up from Friday's close of $1.0393, or 96.22 Canadian cents.
The Canadian dollar reached $1.0509, or 95.15 Canadian cents, in earlier trading.
The Canadian currency has climbed more than 18 cents, or 22 percent, this year.
