UPI NewsTrack Business

Markets close marginally higher

NEW YORK, July 9 (UPI) -- A not-as-bad-as-feared loss of $454 million posted by Alcoa and lower first-time jobless claims figure helped push U.S. markets to marginal gains Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Labor said first time jobless claims fell by 52,000 in the week ending July 4.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 4.76 points or 0.06 percent to 8,183.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 3.12 or 0.35 percent to 882.68. The Nasdaq composite index added 5.38 or 0.31 percent to 1,752.55.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,812 stocks advanced and 1,178 declined on a volume of 6.4 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 25/32 to yield 3.34 percent.

The euro rose to $1.4037, compared to Wednesday's $1.3881. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to 93.0005 yen, compared to Wednesday's 92.65 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average lost 129.69 points to 9,291.06, off 1.38 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.45 percent, 18.43 points, to 3,158.66.

Burger King mulls $1 double cheeseburger

MEMPHIS, July 9 (UPI) -- Fast food giant Burger King is asking its franchises to consider selling double cheeseburgers for $1 apiece, a Memphis-area franchisee said.

John McNelis, president of the real estate division of Mirabile Investment Corp., which owns about 40 Burger Kings, said the company is proposing a double cheeseburger price cut to $1 for about four months and franchise owners are expected to vote on the measure in the near future, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

The double cheeseburgers are priced differently by separate franchises, with several Chicago-area stores selling the sandwich for about $2.40.

The move to drop the price comes after competitor McDonald's raised the price of its double cheeseburger last year from $1 to $1.19. The stores still offer a $1 double cheeseburger, but it includes less cheese than its more expensive counterpart.

Auto sales soar in China

BEIJING, July 9 (UPI) -- The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said auto sales continued at a brisk pace in June with sales outpacing production for the year.

In January through June, China produced 5.99 million cars, up 15.22 percent from a year ago, Xinhua reported Thursday.

In the same six months, vehicle sales hit 6.09 million, the trade association said.

In June, sales were 36.5 percent higher than the same month of 2008. For the fourth consecutive month, sales topped 1.1 million in June with the sale of 1.14 million.units.

The bump in sales is being pushed, in part, by a 50 percent break in sales tax the government enacted in January, which cut sales tax on smaller cars to 5 percent.

Sales of passenger cars with engines smaller than 1.6 liters of displacement rose more than 25 percent in the first half of the year to 4.53 million vehicles, comparing sales to the first half of 2008, CAAM said.

L.A. County property values drop

LOS ANGELES, July 9 (UPI) -- The downturn in the housing market pushed property values down 0.09 percent in Los Angeles County in 2008, the county assessor's office said.

It was the first time in 13 years the total value of property in the county had declined, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The value of all the property in Los Angeles County now totals $1.1 trillion, the annual report said.

On average, the property value in the county has risen 7 percent each year since 1996. This year, in spite of the drop, the county made out better than some of its neighbors, assessor Rick Auerbach said.

"Home values have declined and foreclosures are up, but not to the same extent as in neighboring counties," Auerbach said in a statement.

"The real estate market is still a vital part of Los Angeles County's economy," he said.

Property values in the city of Lancaster dropped 15.4 percent in 2008. In Palmdale, property values dropped 14.9 percent.

In the larger cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach, property values dropped 10 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, the assessor said.