NEW YORK, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes were down Wednesday morning as oil prices rose overnight and Hewlett-Packard turned in a positive financial report.

Crude oil rose slightly to $114.90 per barrel. But, investors were encouraged by a third fiscal quarter report from Hewlett-Packard, showing earnings up 11 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 45.68 points, down 0.4 percent to 11,302.87. The Nasdaq was down 5.17 points, or 0.22 percent, at 2,379.19 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 4.18 points at 1,262.51, off 0.33 percent.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 14/32 to yield 3.788 percent.

Against the euro the dollar was at $1.4755 from Tuesday's $1.4786. The dollar against the yen was at 109.74, compared with Monday's 109.71.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average fell 13.36 points to 12,851.69, down 0.1 percent.

iPhone 3G patched, Apple says

CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- California computer giant Apple said a software patch improves connections for the new iPhone 3G that are possibly haunted with problematic chips.

Some technical analysts have concluded that the problem of dropped calls with the popular cell phone comes from faulty chips made by German chipmaker Infineon Technologies, USA Today reported Wednesday.

If bad chips are causing connections to fail as calls switch from 3G to other networks, it is not certain if a software update can solve the problem, the newspaper said.

Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock said Tuesday, "The software update improves communication with 3G networks."

Apple on Monday offered 60 days of free MobileMe service to subscribers after acknowledging "MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour."

Customers had already been offered a month free as the company continues to make improvements in the service meant to synchronize calendars from a variety of different platforms.

24-hour strike starts in Scotland

GLASGOW, Scotland, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Striking civil servants in Scotland walked off their jobs Wednesday, effectively closing schools and pools and halting burials for the day, sources said.

About 200,000 members of Unison, Unite and GMB unions are staging a 24-hour strike to protest a 2.5-percent pay raise offer considered to be, effectively, a cut in pay as it runs below the inflation rate, The Scotsman reported.

Unite regional officer for Edinburgh and Glasgow Jimmy Farrelly said the government should step in "to stop placing the burden of inflation on the lowest paid workers by making the necessary funds available."

But, Finance Secretary John Swinney said the dispute was between Scottish councils and their employees.

Museums, libraries, day-care centers and some ferry services were closed, the report said.

The Public and Commercial Services union also planned to strike Wednesday, the newspaper said, in protest of a 2 percent wage increase, which amounted to a raise of about $7.81 per week.

NASA awards aerospace testing contract

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., has awarded a $34.9 million contract modification to Jacobs Technology Inc.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the modification will allow additional support for testing and facility operation, development projects, as well as the required maintenance and repairs of wind tunnels and other facilities at the California facility.

The cost-plus-incentive fee award fee contract with the Tullahoma, Tenn., company ends July 31. NASA said the modification brings the total value of the contract, awarded in June 2004, to $123.8 million.