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U.S. market closes lower Friday

NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. markets turned shaky Friday, falling with a reversal of fortune, stocks down and the dollar up to close out the week.

Reports by McDonalds and 3M boosted stocks Thursday. But markets turned lower Friday, with technology stock mostly resisting the decline.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 1.08 percent, 109.13 points, to 9,972.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 1.22 percent, 13.31, to 1,079.60. The Nasdaq composite of tech-dominated stock lost 0.5 percent, 10.82, to 2,154.47.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 736 stocks advanced and 2,284 declined on 4.7 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 20.32 to yield 3.494 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4995 from Thursday's $1.5028. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 92.08 from Thursday's 91.28 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index added 15.82, 0.15 percent, to 10,282.99.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.68 percent, 35.21, to 5,242.57.

Congress to investigate mortgage lenders

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A Congressional panel has opened an investigation into U.S. mortgage lenders to explore their role in the financial crisis and possible influence-peddling.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is seeking information from a variety of lenders, including Countrywide, which was purchased by Bank of America last year.

One point of focus is Countrywide's VIP program, The Hill newspaper reported Friday. The panel plans to subpoena records on the program, which has written mortgages for members of Congress, including committee Chairman Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y.

Towns had resisted the call for an investigation of the VIP program for months saying he received no undue benefits because of Washington position, the Hill said.

Reversing his stance, Towns called for a bipartisan investigation.

"The actions of mortgage lenders contributing to the foreclosure and financial crisis are of serious concern to many Americans. That is why I have opened an investigation into whether mortgage companies employed deceptive and predatory lending practices, or improper tactics to thwart regulation, and the impact of those activities on the current crisis," Towns said.

The panel also plans to look into records at Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Residential Capital and others.

Plans for Mexican megaport scaled back

ENSENADA, Mexico, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A decline in trans-Pacific trade has prompted plans for a megaport near Ensenada, Mexico, to be scaled back, officials said.

Mexican Secretary of Communications and Transport Juan Molinar Horcasitas said while the infrastructure project will move forward, "world economic realities" mean it will be smaller, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday.

"It has become necessary to adapt to world economic realities," Horcasitas said. "There is no doubt the project remains viable, but it needs to be redesigned."

The Punta Colonet megaport is now expected to handle at least 1 million 20-foot-long shipping containers annually. That total is less than half the amount of containers the site was originally intended to hold, the Union-Tribune said.

Jose Rubio Soto, who is supervising the megaport project for the state of Baja California, told the Union-Tribune project officials remain committed to the long-term benefits of the port.

"This project is very much alive,"Soto said. "We cannot allow this to be stopped … . We're thinking about the next 50 years."

84 carriers caught in traffic safety sweep

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. traffic regulators said Friday that 84 truck and bus companies faced sanctions for violations of substance abuse laws.

Through a national drug and alcohol strike force, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said a 10-day initiative from Sept. 8-18, resulted in 84 companies facing some form of legal action for violations such as hiring drivers who failed drug tests or for lacking a drug testing program.

The FMCSA also said the task force pulled 77 commercial bus and truck drivers "off the road," as a result of the sweep.

One of the missions of the task force was to ferret out drivers who jump from carrier to carrier illegally, the FMCSA said in a statement.

"Safety is the number priority for the Department of Transportation," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "Parents need to know when they put their child on a school bus that the driver will get them there safely and that they are drug and alcohol free."

He said the task force was helping to "remove the most dangerous offenders from our roadways."