Markets mixed at close Wednesday
NEW YORK, March 3 (UPI) -- U.S. markets were mixed at the close Wednesday despite slower job losses reported by Automatic Data Processing Inc.
ADP said 20,000 non-farm jobs were lost January to February, the lowest monthly loss in two years.
But early gains faded. Shares of Dow component Pfizer dropped 1.59 percent after results of a drug trial showed no promise for Dimebon in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
By close the Dow Jones industrial average lost 9.22 points, 0.09 percent, to 10,396.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 0.04 percent, 0.48 points, to 1,118.79. The Nasdaq composite index shed 0.11 points, less than 0.01 percent, to 2,280.68.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,641 stocks advanced and 1,368 declined on a volume of 3.9 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. treasury bill fell 3/32 to yield 3.62 percent.
The euro rose to $1.3698 from Tuesday's $1.3609. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 88.44 yen from Tuesday's 88.72 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.31 percent, 31.30, to 10,253.14.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index added 0.9 percent, 49.15, to 5,533.21.
Obama forwards Volcker rule to Congress
WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- The Obama administration forwarded its draft of a Volcker rule limiting the size and activity of U.S. financial companies to Congress Wednesday.
The White House proposed limiting bank shares to 10 percent of overall liabilities and prohibiting banks from "purchasing or selling, or otherwise acquiring and disposing of, stocks, bonds, options, commodities, derivatives, or other financial instruments for the institution's or company's own trading book," the White House said in summary of the draft bill.
There was already skepticism that the bill would make it into law as Republicans were particularly set against it, The Financial Times reported.
Criticism came from as far away as Britain, where First Secretary of State Peter Mandelson called the proposal "too difficult" and urged President Obama to focus on reforms outlined by the Group of 20 nations.
"It's the principle and practice of regulation you have to focus on, not the size of banks," Mandelson said.
Consumer protection still homeless
WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said regulatory authority, not location, was the critical matter concerning a financial protection agency for U.S. consumers.
"What is most significant is what powers will it have, and will we be able to do something about what happened to consumers in recent years," said Dodd, who is trying to sell the idea of creating a consumer protection division within the Federal Reserve.
After ruling out the Treasury Department as a possible home for consumer protection, the Fed became the last option available after Republicans said they would not support a new stand-alone federal agency, which banks also opposed, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
But the Fed has been harshly criticized for missing cues of the collapsing housing market that turned into a prolonged recession and several lawmakers panned the idea of putting consumer protection in the Fed's jurisdiction.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called the idea "almost a bad joke."
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said, "In my 20 years of trying to get the Federal Reserve to properly protect consumers, it has been an uphill, and often unsuccessful battle."
Turkey's unemployment rate at 14 percent
ANKARA, Turkey, March 3 (UPI) -- Turkey's unemployment rate at the end of recession-battered 2009 was a record 14 percent, the national statistics agency reported.
The Turkish Statistics Institute said an additional 838,000 people became unemployed in 2009 for a total of 3.2 million jobless, the Zaman newspaper reported Wednesday.
The 2008 year-end unemployment rate was 11 percent, the report said.
"The economic powerhouse of Istanbul had the second-highest unemployment rate at 16.8 percent, second only to the least developed region of Turkey, southeast Anatolia with 17.4 percent," the agency reported. "Youth unemployment, an especially crucial issue for Turkey considering that half of the population is below the age of 28, also increased to 25.3 percent in 2009, up from 20.5 percent in 2008."
