U.S. markets close ahead Monday
NEW YORK, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. markets swung up and down Monday, closing the day on a positive note.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 127 points early, fell back to break even, then closed out the day 76.71 points ahead.
The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales rose for the eighth consecutive month. The Institute of Supply Management said manufacturing activity rose for the third month in a row. Construction spending rose in September.
By close the DJIA regained some momentum, ending at 9,789.44, up 0.79 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500's gained 0.65 percent, up 6.69 points, to 1,042.88. The Nasdaq composite index added 4.09 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,049.20.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,627 stocks advanced and 1,411 declined on a volume of 6.2 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year U.S.Treasury lost 9/32 to yield 3.42 percent.
The euro rose to $1.4774 compared to Friday's $1.4717. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 90.27 yen from Friday's 90.02 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index lost 2.31 percent, 231.79, to 9,802.95.
The FTSE 100 index in Britain added 59.95, 1.19 percent, to 5,104.50.
RBS says it may sell unexpected assets
LONDON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The Royal Bank of Scotland, under pressure from the European Commission, said it may sell some unexpected assets to pay for it's government bailout.
The bank said Monday that it was considering "some divestments not initially contemplated," The Times of London reported.
In a statement, the bank said, "it remains RBS's goal that any required divestments do not threaten its recovery plan, which is already under way."
The European Union's Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is pushing the bank, which has been given $32 billion in bailout funds, to sell its 1,480 branch Citizens Financial Group, which gives it a significant retail bank presence in the United States.
In addition, Kroes is pushing RBS to sell its insurance businesses and the National Westminster Bank.
The Times said Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is expected to make public Tuesday what assets RBS must sell.
Alleged insider trading source resigns
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- California chipmaker Globalfoundries said its chief executive officer Hector Ruiz would resign after being tied to the Galleon Group insider trading scandal.
The company said Monday Ruiz would take a leave of absence, then formally retire on Jan. 4, The New York Times reported. His replacement, Alan Ross, will hold the CEO position in an interim status, the company said.
Ruiz is the former CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, where he allegedly passed confidential information to Danielle Chiesi of New Castle Funds, who allegedly relayed the information to the Galleon Group hedge fund, founded by Raj Rajaratnam
Both Rajaratnam and Chiesi are defendants, but Ruiz has not been charged with a crime, the Times said.
Small business loans scarce at large banks
BOSTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Billions of dollars of U.S. bailout funds have gone to pay down bank debt, rather than increase small business lending, a leading economic analyst said.
Economic analyst Brian Bethune at IHS Global Insight said banks with frozen assets clogging their books do not have the funds available for lending, The Boston Globe reported Monday.
"They're not really anxious to do that sort of business," Bethune said.
Bank of America, despite $45 billion in federal assistance, made 11 Small Business Administration 7(a) loans from September 2008 to September 2009 in Massachusetts, compared with 54 the previous year, the Globe said.
Citibank, whose parent company Citigroup Inc., accepted $50 billion in federal funds, made eight SBA 7(a) loans in the state in the same period, lending $2.4 million.
Central Bankcorp accepted $10 million in federal assistance, while OneUnited of Boston received $12 million. Not even a temporary suspension of a 2 percent borrowers fee could entice the banks to write SBA loans, the newspaper said.
"That's what has a lot of people on Main Street angry. It doesn't appear to them that bankers have suffered that much," said Cornelius Hurley, director of Boston University's Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law.
