Markets continue march up Wednesday
NEW YORK, March 19 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes jumped at the opening bell Wednesday as investors looked to see if Tuesday's burst of activity would continue.
Sparked by the U.S. Federal Reserves cut in bank-to-bank lending rates, Tuesday's rally boosted the Dow Jones industrial average 3.5 percent, while the Standard & Poor's index jumped 4.2 percent and the Nasdaq index leaped 4.1 percent.
In late-morning trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained again, up 0.22 percent to 12,419.61 points on a 26.95 point gain. The Standard & Poor's index rose 0.41 percent to 1,336.20 points on a gain of 5.46 points.
The Nasdaq composite index rose up 7.10 points to 2,275.36 points, a 0.31 percent advance.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note inclined 8/32 to yield 3.472 percent.
The dollar was mixed. The euro traded at $1.5694 from $1.5636 Tuesday, while the dollar traded at 99.54 yen from 99.56 yen Monday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index also advanced Wednesday, up 296.28 points to 12,260.44 points, up 2.48 percent.
Unions stage general strike in Greece
ATHENS, Greece, March 19 (UPI) -- Unions in Greece conducted a general strike Wednesday to send a message to the government, which votes on a critical pension reform bill Thursday.
Thousands were expected to take part in the 24-hour general strike, the BBC reported.
Strikes are already rife in the country with garbage collection halted for the past two weeks and public transportation halted on Tuesday, the report said.
The government expects to vote Thursday on reforms that would consolidate 100 social security and pension funds. It is also considering raising the legal retirement age, which is currently at 65 years for men and 60 for woman.
The reform measure "harms all categories of workers," Yiannis Panagopoo, a labor union leader said. "And of course it dramatically reduces pensions for everyone."
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has warned that Greece's debt-ridden pension system could collapse if the reforms are not passed.
FCC auction raises record and doubts
WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- A Federal Communications Commission auction Tuesday raised a record in dollars but failed to sell critical public safety airwaves known as D Block.
The sold airwaves raised $19.6 billion, more than the sum raised from all previous radio airwave auctions, FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said.
Analysts reportedly wondered if the price of those airwaves was so high only large carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless could compete, thus limiting business competition.
Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunication Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., said he was concerned that the airwaves set aside for a joint private and public safety venture failed to generate a minimum bid.
Markey called for a full review of the "public safety spectrum trust" questioning if the format for the D Block auction should be "retained or modified," The Washington Post reported.
Telecommunications industry lawyer Rick Joyce told the paper the minimum price for D Block was too high, given the estimated $5 billion to $7 billion it would take to complete it.
Fed rate cut stirs the pot, analysts said
WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve's 75-basis-point rate cut is likely to help investment banks and exporters at the cost of pushing inflation, analysts said.
It's a balancing act. While the rate banks use to loan each other money overnight dropped to 2 1/4 percent with Tuesday's Fed action, banks are granted some breathing room and restored liquidity. But the extra dollars available, once they reach consumers, also increase spending, which allows for inflation to escalate.
"The Fed has abandoned the one thing it can truly control -- the long-run increase in price levels," the former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Lee Hoskins wrote recently, The Washington Post reported.
"Creating more dollar bills will not add to the nation's wealth or make workers more productive," Hoskins said.
But, rate cuts also weaken the dollar, making exports more affordable. With emerging markets stronger and hungry for goods like cars, computers and heavy equipment, the weak dollar carries implied gains, analysts said.
