UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets mixed before holiday

NEW YORK, July 3 (UPI) -- U.S. stock markets closed with mixed results Thursday after the European Central Bank raised its key lending rate to 4.25 percent.

The dollar gained strength against the euro, in spite of the central bank's interest rate hike, which the bank hopes will slow inflation in the Eurozone.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained modestly before the Fourth of July break, adding 73.03 points or 0.65 percent to 11,288.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 1.38 or 0.11 percent to 1,262.90. The Nasdaq composite index fell 6.08 or 0.27 percent to 2,245.38.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,062 stocks advanced and 2,001 declined on a volume of 931 million shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 6/32 to yield 3.985 percent.

The dollar was mixed. The euro traded at $1.5695 from Wednesday's $1.5701, while the dollar traded at 106.71 yen from Wednesday's 106.74 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index lost 20.97 points to 13,265.40, off 0.16 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 51.70 to 5,478, up 0.95 percent.

United raises prices at the bar

CHICAGO, July 3 (UPI) -- United Airlines has raised prices at the bar and hopes to raise $1 billion annually from a variety of fees and services, a spokesman for the U.S. company said.

United will bump the price of in-flight alcoholic drinks on domestic flights by $1 to $6 and begin serving larger snack packages -- chips, cookies and trail mix among them -- on some flights for $3 apiece, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

For now, the airline will continue with the free half-ounce snacks and drinks they already distribute to passengers, spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.

But, that could change in the future, she said.

New fees for checking bags and new services, like jumbo sized snacks, could result in passengers switching to Southwest Airlines, which is promoting itself the airline resisting the rush to add fees, the Tribune reported.

"The question is how many of those travelers do they send over to their competitor, Southwest?" said Tom Parsons of BestFares.com.

Not bribes, consulting fees, attorney says

LOS ANGELES, July 3 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Los Angeles say former city official Leland Wong was paid to exert his influence on behalf of a company negotiating a lease with the city.

Leland Wong was "being paid for results," Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman said.

Wong allegedly accepted $100,000 in $5,000 monthly payments from a Evergreen Group, a Taipei, Taiwan, company negotiating with a lease with the Port of Los Angeles more than four years ago, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But, Wong's attorney, Jeffrey Rutherford said his client was being unfairly singled out.

Wong, a former member of the city's airport commission and water and power panel, disclosed his dealings with the company in public filings in 2002, Rutherford said.

Rutherford said the payments were consulting fees and such arrangements were not uncommon at City Hall.

"This is not something he did quietly," Rutherford said.

Late payments on equity loans rise

WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- Delinquency rates on home-equity loans are higher than they have been in more than a decade, the American Bankers Association said.

Late payments have reached an 11-year high as "the consumer is getting hit from all directions," Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisers told USA Today.

Consumers most often deal with home loans as the highest priority, followed by car loans and then credit card debt, the newspaper reported. As such, "that people are now having trouble making payments on home-equity lines is a clear sign of the extent of the pressure on the household budgets," Naroff said.

ABA chief economist James Chessen predicted late payments would continue due to "anemic personal income growth, falling home equity and stock values, job losses, and rising food and energy prices."

"The tax stimulus is helping to boost personal income, but persistently high gas and food prices will eat away at overall resources," he said in a statement.