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U.S. stock indexes gain toward close

NEW YORK, March 4 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes gained strength late Tuesday but didn't recover enough to avoid generally ending the session lower.

Financial concerns fell after U.S Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged the private sector to pitch in Tuesday morning, a signal that key rate cuts may not be offered soon.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 45.10 points to 12,213.80, a decline of 0.3 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 4.59 points, off 0.34 percent, to 1,326.75. The Nasdaq composite index gained slightly, up 0.07 percent to 2,260.28 points, up 1.68.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note was gained, yielding 3.551 percent.

The euro traded at $1.5203 from $1.5210 Monday, while the dollar traded at 103.16 yen from 103.22 yen Monday.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed at nearly even on the day, up 0.10 points to 12,992.28, up 0.007 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped 50.90 points to 5,767.70 at the close Tuesday, down 0.87 percent.

Crude prices fall as speculators disperse

NEW YORK, March 4 (UPI) -- Speculators pulled away from crude oil Tuesday in a sell-off that saw U.S. prices plummet to below $100 barrel.

The pullout, sparked by the increasing strength of the dollar, dropped the price of crude 4 percent less than 24 hours.

The overnight high Monday came in at $103.95. By close on Tuesday the price fell to $99.94 cents a barrel.

"It's ... all the speculators getting out," Kevin Mallon at Prebon Energy told The Wall Street Journal.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of heating oil also declined Tuesday, falling to $2.7990 per gallon from $2.8445 Tuesday morning.

Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 0.72 cents late Tuesday to $2.5448 per gallon.

Natural gas prices rose 1.2 cents to $9.365 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said the national price for a gallon of unleaded in the United States rose to $3.168 per gallon, up from Monday's $3.165 per gallon.

Gazprom threatens Ukraine with supply cuts

MOSCOW, March 4 (UPI) -- Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom vowed Tuesday to cut gas supplies to Ukraine 25 percent, sending shivers of concern through the European continent.

Gazprom already cut supplies to Ukraine 25 percent Monday after talks to between Gazprom and the country to settle its $600 million debt broke down.

The second tier of leverage against Ukraine would total a 50 percent reduction in natural gas supplies.

Ukraine said it would not interfere with the natural gas flow that goes through the country and supplies around 25 percent of Europe's needs unless it felt its own citizens were threatened.

Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz said in a statement, "Uninterrupted transit for European consumers cannot be guaranteed if Ukraine's energy security comes under threat," the Russian agency Novosti reported.

The company reserved the right to take "appropriate asymmetrical action," the report said.

The European Commission called on the two parties to resolve their differences.

In the winter of 2006, a supply cutback to Ukraine resulted in cutbacks to European customers.

Northrup Grumman: Jobs will stay in U.S.

ALBUQUERQUE, March 4 (UPI) -- A Northrop Grumman spokesman said Tuesday that a $40 billion U.S. Air Force contract announced last week wouldn't create new jobs overseas.

The announcement that Northrop and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. had trumped Boeing to secure the large contract sparked alarm that U.S. defense procurement was being captured by foreign companies.

Some are calling for a review of the bidding process on the contract for refurbished tanker planes, which is expected to grow into more than $100 billion in new business over 30 years.

To counter concerns, Northrop spokesman Tim Paynter said Tuesday 400 aerospace jobs would be created in Albuquerque and that "we're not expecting any new jobs will be created overseas."

"If you look at the dollar amount, we'll directly inject $40 million into your economy per year," Paynter told the Albuquerque Journal.

The Northrup-EADS venture is also expected to create 9,000 jobs around Mobile, Ala., where a large assembly plant will be built.