Market skid turns around
NEW YORK, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The day after a sharp dip, U.S. markets turned higher Tuesday morning despite disappointing data on housing starts.
The Commerce Department said housing starts and building permits both dropped in July.
In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 59.78 points, 0.65 percent, to 9,195.12. The S&P 500 index added 5.30 points, 0.54 percent, to 985.03. The Nasdaq index rose 0.68 percent, 13.16 points, to 1,944.00.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 7/32 to yield 3.496 percent.
The euro rose to $1.4097 from Monday's $1.4083. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 94.80 from Monday's 94.44 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 16.35 points, 0.16 percent, to 10,284.96.
GM confirms deal to sell Saab
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- General Motors Co. said it had agreed to sell Saab Automobiles in Sweden to the Koenigsegg Group, a consortium of European buyers.
Koenigsegg confirmed they had reached a stock purchase agreement that is expected to close in the fourth quarter and end the U.S. automaker's 20-year ownership reign, The Local reported Tuesday.
Critical steps remain to be taken, however.
In a statement, Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, said the deal was "contingent on the funding commitment from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government."
Joran Hagglund, state secretary of the Swedish Industry Ministry, said the consortium had to find additional capital and renegotiate loans with the European Investment Bank. In addition, the group needed to negotiate with the state "over the conditions of any state guarantees," he said.
"For all this, the approval of the European Commission is also required," he said.
But Saab Managing Director Jan Ake Jonsson called the development "excellent news."
"This is an important step to secure jobs and our long-term future as a Swedish car maker," he said.
COBRA enrollment doubles
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Unemployed Americans are signing up for COBRA healthcare benefits at twice the previous rate due to a federal subsidy, a private research group found.
Since the federal government began subsidizing COBRA payments in February, 38 percent of eligible former workers have signed up for the program, Hewitt Associates said. Previous to the subsidy, which pays 65 percent of the premium, 19 percent were signing up, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The Kaiser Family Foundation said the average family premium dropped to $377 a month with the subsidy. Prior to February, the average premium was more than $1,000 a month.
Healthcare watchdog group Families USA said family insurance before the subsidy was prohibitively expensive, costing people, on average, 84 percent of their unemployment benefits.
"Employers should expect and prepare for COBRA enrollments to remain at their inflated levels, particularly since the subsidy is available to those workers laid off through the end of 2009," said Karen Frost, health and welfare outsourcing strategy leader at Hewitt.
German investors more confident
FRANKFURT, Germany, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A key indicator of German investor sentiment has risen sharply so far this month, ZEW Research said Tuesday.
The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany jumped 16.6 points to 56.1, the research group said.
After registering at 39.5 in July, the indicator is now "well above the indicator's historic average of 26.5," the group said.
"The recent development of the gross domestic product shows that the previous expectations of the financial market have come true," ZEW President Wolfgang Franz said in a statement.
"There is, however, no reason for euphoria. The German economy develops parallel to the would economy and should, hence, recover only gradually."
Germany's GDP rose 0.3 percent in the second quarter, technically pulling the country out of recession.
