U.S. markets close higher
NEW YORK, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed higher after the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development issued improved forecasts for developed countries.
The OECD said the eurozone's gross domestic product would contract 3.9 percent in 2009, less than a forecast three months ago of a 4.8 percent decline. Japan's contraction was reassessed from a 6.8 percent decline to a 5.6 percent dip. The U.S. GDP projection held steady at a 2.8 percent contraction for the year.
Trading was light. By close, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 63.94 points, 0.69 percent, to 9,344.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.85 percent, 8.49 points, to 1,000.24. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.82 percent, 16.13 points, to 1,983.20.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,325 stocks advanced and 688 declined on a volume of 4.6 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 10/32 to yield 3.342 percent.
The euro fell to $1.4253 from Wednesday's $1.472. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 92.59 from Wednesday's 92.12.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.64 percent, 65.82 points, to 10,214.64.
In London, the FTSE 100 index shed 20.80 points, 0.43 percent, to 4,796.75.
Three in Europe unite on bonus pay
LONDON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Britain, France and Germany united in a call for rules on bank bonus pay Thursday, issuing a joint letter calling for an international consensus.
A letter signed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for "binding rules" that would tie the size of bonus checks to base salaries and long-term performances of the deals that generated the commission checks, the Financial Times reported.
In addition, the three leaders called for banks to defer bonus checks and include "clawback" provisions in contracts that allow banks to recover bonus pay if it was based on deals that later turned sour.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said, "International co-operation is needed to prevent banks playing off one country against another," the Times reported.
Britain and France have rules limiting bonus checks. In the United States, Britain and elsewhere political maelstroms erupted through financial crisis of the past year as bailed out banks revealed huge bonus checks in the face of massive bank losses.
Group of 20 finance ministers are scheduled to meet in London Friday and Saturday to review policies in advance of a G20 meeting in Pittsburgh later this month.
Back to school retail boost fizzles
NEW YORK, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. retailers failed to show growth in August despite tax free shopping days in some states and a nationwide leap into back-to-school spending, data shows.
Retail showed some growth compared to July, when sales fell 5 percent. Contrary to expectations, however, stores catering to young children and teenagers showed sharp declines.
Sales at the Gap fell 3 percent, while American Eagle Outfitters reported sales down 7 percent. Sales at Children's Place fell 8 percent.
Overall, sales dropped 2.9 percent in the month compared to a year ago, The New York Times reported Thursday.
A slew of department stores took a hit in August. Sales at Saks fell 19.6 percent, while Dilllard's said sales dropped 8.9 percent. Macy's said sales were down 7.9 percent and Nordstrom was down 7.6 percent, the Times reported.
Apple's Snow Leopard gets bruised in blogs
CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. computer maverick Apple Inc.'s new operating system Snow Leopard remains a strong seller despite ominous-sounding complaints, records show.
The program has kept its No. 1 spot on Amazon.com software sales since its August 28 release, InformationWeek reported Thursday. But many online reviews are pointing to a system failure that has been given the street-wise nickname, "the spinning wheel of death."
The name refers to a rotating icon that appears on some computer screens when the system freezes.
Internet bloggers offered many solutions. Apple posted one.
"Your Mac may start up to a gray screen after upgrading from Mac OS X v10.5 to Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard," the company said.
"This may occur if a previous Mac OS X v10.5 software update had been downloaded using Software Update, but not completely installed, before installing Snow Leopard."
The new program offers several new features, but a Web site has arisen which lists Macintosh applications Snow Leopard does not support.
There are about 100 on the list, InformationWeek said.
