UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets down at close Tuesday

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Major U.S. stock indexes remained in negative territory through the close Tuesday on producer price inflation news and falling home starts.

The Department of Labor reported wholesale inflation to rose above expectations at 1.2 percent. Housing starts also pressured markets, falling 11 percent in July, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.

By close Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1308.84 points or 1.14 percent, to 11,348.55. The Nasdaq was down 32.62 points, or 1.35 percent, at 2,384.36 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 11.91 at 1,266.69, off 0.93 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 854 stocks advanced and 2,272 declined on a volume of 1.012 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 6/32 to yield 3.839 percent.

Against the euro the dollar was at $1.4784 from Monday's $1.4701. The dollar against the yen was at 109.69, compared with Monday's 110.01.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average fell 300.40 points to 12,865.05, down 2.28 percent.

The FTSE 100 index in London was also down, off 2.38 percent on a loss of 129.80 points to 5,320.40.

Telemarketing petition backfires

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A petition for a rule change backfired on the U.S. telemarketing industry, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.

In 2004, the industry asked the FTC to allow prerecorded calls in cases where the business had already established a relationship with the customer.

That request garnered 14,00 responses "overwhelmingly opposed" to the idea, the FTC said in a statement.

Answering to those responses, the FTC said Tuesday there would be a rule change. But it was not the one the industry had requested.

The new rule bars all prerecorded telemarketing sales calls unless the telemarketer first has agreed in writing to accept such calls from the seller, the FTC said.

Prerecorded health and service related informational calls, such as a call telling a customer of a flight delay, are exempted from the new rule, as are solicitations on behalf of non-profit companies, the FTC said.

Solicitation calls are required to include a quick "opt-out mechanism" the FTC said.

The change requiring permission from consumers to receive prerecorded sales calls will take effect Sept. 1, 2009, the FTC said.

The "opt-out mechanism rule" will take effect Dec.1, 2008.

Airline sends first flight from Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Amsterdam Airlines began its maiden flight Tuesday, sending its only plane, an Airbus 320, to Italy, the company said.

In an era of rising fuel costs and airline cutbacks, the Dutch company has hired 43 workers and plans to add 30 employees for each new plane it acquires, Radio Netherlands reported.

The plan is for the company to lease planes and personnel to other airlines, the report said.

Amsterdam Airlines plans to hire pilots and flight attendants, but purchase other services as needed, the report said.

Airline director Matthijs Boertien said Amsterdam Airlines would triple its fleet size next spring, by buying two more planes.

Eurozone posts June trade deficit

PARIS, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The trade balance of the 15 Eurozone nations shifted from an $11 billion surplus in June 2007 to a deficit in 2008, the EU's statistical office said Tuesday.

The $0.147 billion deficit this June includes shrinking exports to the United States and Japan, but growing exports with Russia, up 26 percent; Brazil, up 21 percent; and China, up 17 percent, the EU Observer reported.

Imports from energy suppliers Russia and Norway grew compared to June 2007 by 27 percent and 25 percent, respectively, the Observer reported.

Eurostat has predicted the gross domestic product in the Eurozone has fallen for the first time since the euro was introduced, estimating a 0.2 percent drop in the second quarter of 2008, the report said.

Eurozone finance ministers meet Sept. 12 in Nice, France.

On Monday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said coordination of economic policy was "indispensable."

"We have a common economic area, a common currency," Fillon said.