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U.S. markets head down Thursday

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. markets were lower Thursday after six consecutive days of gains in New York.

Markets traded on narrow margins despite a Labor Department report that said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 12,000 to 502,000 in the week ended Nov. 7. The four-week rolling average also dropped, declining by 4,500 to 524,250.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 52.68 points, 0.51 percent, to 10,238.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 shed 6.36 points, 0.58 percent, to 1,092.15. The Nasdaq composite index lost 8.15 points, 0.38 percent, to 2,158.75.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury came off a Veterans Day bank holiday to fall 2 1/32 and yield 3.474 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4922 from Wednesday's $1.4982. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 90.36 yen from Wednesday's 89.81 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.68 percent, 67.19, to 9,804.49.

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EU warns more countries on rising debt

BRUSSELS, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The European Commission has warned member states they would have to take steps to curtail rising national deficits.

The most stern warning went to Greece, the Euobserver reported Thursday. But nine other member states were given their first warnings. The EU's Stability and Growth Pact stipulates that national deficits should be held under 3 percent of each country's gross domestic product.

The average national deficit among member states has tripled as a percentage of the GDP since 2008 due to the cost of economic stimulus measures and lower tax revenues with increased demand for government services that occurs during a recession.

"Even if the deficit is contained in 2010 and 2011 at the present level … (this) will trigger a very rapid increase in the public debt-to-GDP," said EU economy commissioner Joaquin Almunia.

Almunia said Greece, which received a warning in April, had "very serious problems."

Greece, Spain, France, Ireland and Britain were given warnings in April. Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Portugal, Belgium, and Italy were issued warnings this week, the EUobserver reported.

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Foreclosure threat eases in Britain

LONDON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The Council of Mortgage Lenders said the fear of foreclosure in Britain had eased, predicting repossessions more than 35 percent lower than estimated earlier.

The council forecast 48,000 foreclosures, not 75,000, would occur this year, The Times of London Online reported Thursday.

Foreclosures in the third quarter dropped 7 percent to 24,337, compared with the second quarter, the Ministry of Justice said.

"Low interest rates and lenders' forbearance policies have helped to cushion many households facing financial problems. And although the economy is not out of the woods yet, we no longer expect a dramatic rise in properties being taken into possession unless interest rates rise," said Michael Coogan, director general of the CML.

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U.S. adviser to Kurds criticized

OSLO, Norway, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A former Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations expressed shock that a U.S. consultant to the Kurds may earn more than $100 million from an Iraqi oil deal.

Peter Galbraith, a former U.S. ambassador to Croatia, who advocated on behalf of Kurds in northern Iraq during the country's constitutional negotiations in 2005, had previously, in 2004, signed a deal with a Norwegian oil company, DNO, that gave him rights to a small portion of income from new oil discoveries in Kurdistan, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The discovery of the Tawke oil field in December 2005 could enrich Galbraith, son of renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, by more than $100 million, the Times said.

Former U.N. ambassador Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi said he was "speechless," that "an oil company was participating in the drafting of the Iraqi Constitution."

Similarly, Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani, vice chairman of the oil and gas committee in the Iraqi Parliament, said the "interference was not justified, illegal and not right."

Galbraith said he was acting as a private citizen.

"I believe my work with DNO helped create the Kurdistan oil industry which helps provide Kurdistan an economic base for the autonomy its people almost unanimously desire," he said.