UPI NewsTrack Business

U.S. markets hit steep slide Monday

NEW YORK, June 15 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed sharply lower Monday after the Federal Reserve said manufacturing in New York declined in the previous month.

Already negative, the New York Fed's manufacturing index slid from minus 4.55 to minus 9.41 with new orders weak and shipping falling 6 points to minus 4.8.

Oil prices also fell as the dollar gained against the euro, putting downward pressure on commodities in general.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 187.13 points, or 2.13 percent to 8,612.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 2.38 percent, 22.49 points, to 923.72. The Nasdaq composite index lost 42.42 points, 2.28 percent, to 1,816.38.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 457 stocks advanced and 2,595 declined on a volume of 4.3 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 18/32 to yield 3.721 percent.

The euro fell to $1.3788, compared to Friday's $1.3999. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar fell to 97.82 yen, compared to Friday's 98.38 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average lost 0.95 percent, 96.15 points to 10,039.67.

In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped 115.94 points, 2.61 percent, to 4,326.01.

Bell Helicopter union to strike

HURST, Texas, June 15 (UPI) -- Union workers at Bell Helicopter in Texas rejected a contract offer and voted to begin a strike at midnight Monday, the United Auto Workers said.

"The membership said they were not going to buy this. I hope Bell Helicopter listens," Tom Wells, chairman of Local 218 told the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram Monday.

Union members voted 1,177 to 680 to reject the contract that with cost-of-living adjustments included a total wage increase of 18.7 percent over the life of the contract.

The contact also included a $4,500 cash bonus an 11.7 percent increase in monthly pension benefits for new retirees.

The contract, however, would have eliminated 44 janitorial positions, by absorbing janitors into higher paid positions, although union members still balked at voting to erase jobs.

"No employees would be bumped or laid off from this event," said Bell spokesman Tom Dolney in an e-mail.

But union member Alexander Martinez disagreed. "What they're offering is wrong. They're trying to eliminate jobs," Martinez said.

The strike includes Bell manufacturing plants in the Forth Worth, Texas, area, but not the military helicopter plant in Amarillo, which is not covered by the UAW contract, the newspaper said.

Economist sees Canadian turnaround

TORONTO, June 15 (UPI) -- RBC Economics said the Canadian economy was poised to contract by 2.4 percent in 2009, but that the worst of the recession was over.

Much of the annual decline would be slanted toward a first quarter gross domestic decline of 5.4 percent. At this point, however, "we believe it (the economy) is ripe to enter its recovery phase later this year," RBC Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President Craig Wright said in a statement.

Wright said "the benefits of significant fiscal and monetary policy stimulus are starting to have traction."

RBC said low interest rates on loans is beginning to jump start the ailing U.S. housing market, giving consumers more confidence.

"There is an unprecedented amount of money bolstering the world economy," he said. "What we will be watching is the impact this spending has on labor markets, as well as household and business confidence."

RBC said a boost in Canadian consumer confidence "will be constrained by increasing job losses."

In Canada, the unemployment rate is expected to reach 9.2 percent. The country has shed 360,000 jobs since October.

The U.S. unemployment rate reached 9.4 percent at the end of May on the loss of about 6 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

Oil tycoon Kulczyk remains richest Pole

WARSAW, Poland, June 15 (UPI) -- Jan Kulczyk, owner of oil and energy companies, this year retained his post as Poland's richest tycoon, the Polish weekly Wprost reported Monday.

Kulczyk, with an estimated worth of $1.8 billion, led the list, but is only several million dollars ahead of Zygmunt Solorz-Zak, owner of Polsat TV, who also piled up $1.8 billion.

Third on the list of 100 richest Poles is Slawomir Smolkowski, owner of an energy company that controls 10 percent of the Polish gasoline market.

The global financial crisis had an impact on Poland, with the total annual income of the 100 richest Poles declining from $35.8 billion last year to $23.4 billion this year.

The number of billionaires in Poland dropped from 32 in 2008 to 21 this year, the Polish Web site thenews.pl said, quoting the Wprost report.