UPI NewsTrack Business

Week ends with gains on Wall Street

NEW YORK, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. stock markets gained ground Friday against a seemingly negative tide of economic news.

On the down side, the U.S. Labor Department said unemployment jumped to 6.5 percent in October, the highest jobless rate in 14 years.

General Motors Corp. added to the dismay, posting a net loss of $4.2 billion in the third quarter, The Wall Street Journal reported.

But markets showed resilience as President-elect Barack Obama met in Chicago with an expert team of financial advisers, including billionaire investor Warren Buffett. By close Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 248.02 points, up 2.85 percent, to 8,943.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2.86 percent, up 25.87 points, to 930.75. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, gained 38.70 points, up 2.41 percent, to 1,647.40.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,124 stocks advanced and 932 declined on a volume of 7.407 billion shares traded.

Ten-year U.S. Treasury bonds fell 22/32, to yield 3.78 percent.

The euro rose to $1.2748, from Thursday's $1.2712. The dollar rose to 98.43 yen, from 97.74 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index lost 316.14 points, down 3.55 percent, to 8,583.00.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 92.55 to 4,364.96, up 2.17 percent.

EU fine tuning 5-point financial plan

BRUSSELS, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A plan under discussion by financial leaders in Brussels Friday would leave no segment of the financial markets unregulated.

The EU Observer said the five-point plan under discussion for preparation for a Nov. 15 financial summit in Washington would leave no financial markets without a regulatory body's supervision.

The plan also calls for mandatory registration of the rating agencies, greater agreement among accounting rules and consistent application of the fair value rule, which applies to asset evaluations.

The plan also gives primary responsibility to the International Monetary Fund for supporting countries experiencing financial difficulties, the EU Observer said.

The summit scheduled for Nov. 15 brings together the Group of Seven, the European Union and 12 other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.

The European Union is pressing for "concrete operational proposals" for within 100 days of the meeting, the EU Observer said.

ECB rate cut falls short, France says

PARIS, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the European Central Bank's lending rate cut this week wasn't good enough.

"It's not sufficient," Lagarde said in a television interview, the EU Observer reported Friday. Many were disappointed the ECB did not reduce its rates for the 15-member Eurozone as boldly as the Bank of England, which cut its rate on the same day, Thursday, by 1.5 points to 3 percent, the newspaper said.

The ECB cut its rate from 3.75 percent to 3.25 percent.

Lagarde said the Bank of France may also cut its rate, "before the end of the year."

The central bank in the Czech Republic trimmed its rate three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.75 percent. Central banks in Switzerland and Denmark took actions similar to the ECB, dropping rates a half percentage point.

The Bank of Korea reduced its rate for the third time in a month, reducing its lending rate Friday to 4 percent.

Ford, GM post losses large and larger

DETROIT, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said further federal help was needed for the automotive industry.

In a financial report released Friday, GM said it posted a loss of $2.629 billion in the third quarter. In the statement, Wagoner said the government's effort to thaw frozen credit markets was "an essential first step."

"But, further strong action is required," he said.

GM's net losses amounted to $4.45 per share, while Ford Motor Co., which reported a net third quarter deficit of $129 million Friday, lost $0.06 per share.

At GM, third quarter revenues fell from $43.7 billion in 2007 to $37.9 billion in 2008. The company expended $6.9 billion in cash during the quarter.

Wagoner lamented the "abrupt closure of credit markets," and consumer spending, which "fell dramatically," he said.

Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally sounded a more optimistic note. "We have a strategy that is broad and specific enough to handle the dramatic changes in today's environment," he said.

"We were fortunate to have gone to the markets at the right time two years ago to obtain significant liquidity to implement our plan and invest in the new products that will secure our future," said Ford's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth.