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U.S. markets advance is modest Thursday

NEW YORK, April 10 (UPI) -- Technology stocks led advances on Wall Street Thursday, as retailers still posted disappointing sales reports.

Sales at established Gap stores fell 18 percent, the company reported.

By close Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 54.72 points or 0.44 percent to 12,581.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 6.06 or 0.45 percent to 1,360.55. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 29.58 or 1.27 percent to 2,351.70.

On the New York Stock Exchange 1,939 stocks advanced and 1,149 declined on a volume of 1.284 billion shares traded.

The 10-year treasury note fell 15/32, to yield 3.538 percent.

The dollar rose. The euro traded at $1.5742 compared with Wednesday's $1.5821 while the dollar traded at 101.92 yen from Wednesday's 101.78 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average dropped 166.59 points at the close, down 1.27 percent to 12,945.30.

In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 18.80 or 0.31 percent to 5,965.10.

New York to tax small cigars big

ALBANY, N.Y., April 10 (UPI) -- New York State is changing the status of cigarette-sized cigars to allow them to be taxed at the same rate as cigarettes.

The new state budget includes the rule change, which takes effect on June 3.

Taxes on cigarettes and little cigars will jump to $2.75 per pack on the same day, the New York Daily News reported.

Currently, the little cigars are currently taxed at a rate of 30 cents per pack. Cigarettes are now taxed at $1.50 per pack.

The state predicts the new tax will add $3.6 million to its annual budget, the report said.

"New York State is now the national public health leader in tobacco taxation," Michael Seilback, policy director for the American Lung Association in New York told the paper.

eBay to silence seller reviews

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 10 (UPI) -- The Internet auction house eBay is cutting out the squabbling by changing rules so sellers can no longer rate buyers, the company said.

Buyers will still be able to rate sellers, but the two-way feedback system, which has turned into a cycle of vengeful negative reviews, will be eliminated, The Washington Post reported.

In turn, eBay said it would police buyers.

Some of eBay's 82.3 million active users have come out against the new policy, which will make it harder to weed out bad customers.

Bill Frischling, chief operating officer for Dyscern, a high-volume eBay company, said providing comments about sellers allows the company to converse with their customers.

Another observer thought the system could withstand the change. "If you think about it, eBay is the only e-commerce site where buyers are even rated, much less can receive negatives," blogger Scot Wingo wrote.

U.S. looks at buying student loans

WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Education may be authorized to purchase federally guaranteed student loans to restore stability in the lending program, officials said.

Federally guaranteed loans have become harder to find, as many lenders have dropped out of the business in recent weeks, The Washington Post reported.

The House Education Committee, chaired by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., approved a measure Wednesday that would allow the Education Department to purchase loans. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., has introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

"The turmoil in the credit markets has become a crisis," Kennedy said. "The question for Congress is how to prevent it from becoming a crisis for students."

Since October, when a cut in federal subsidies for student loan lenders took effect, 12 percent of lenders of federally guaranteed loans have dropped out of the business, the Post reported.

The problem escalated when the auction-rate securities market, a critical source of funding, collapsed this winter.

In purchasing loans, the Department of Education would add liquidity to the market, helping lenders weather through the economic downturn.

"This is the equivalent of a hurricane coming, and staging food and water at the site," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said.