Stocks slide on European Central Bank news
NEW YORK, April 7 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed lower Thursday after the European Central Bank raised its lending rates from 1 percent to 1.25 percent to slow inflation in the eurozone.
The ECB has held bank-to-bank lending rates at 1 percent for nearly two years but said there was "ample" liquidity in markets and growing concern about rising oil prices.
The Bank of England said it would keep its current 0.5 percent lending rate intact. The Central Bank of Japan said it would make $11.7 billion in loans available to areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Investors also digested news of a 7.4-magnitude aftershock with an epicenter close to the previous 9-magnitude quake.
By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 17.26 points or 0.14 percent to 12,409.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.03 or 0.15 percent to 1,333.51. The Nasdaq composite index shed 3.68 or 0.13 percent to 2,796.14.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,116 stocks advanced and 1,872 declined on a volume of 3.6 billion shares traded.
The 10-year treasury note was unchanged, yielding 3.547 percent.
The euro fell to $1.4305 from Wednesday's $1.4331. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 84.86 yen from Wednesday's 85.43 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.07 percent, 6.56, to 9,590.93.
In London, the FTSE 100 index shed 0.56 percent, 33.76, to 6,007.37.
BOJ offers $11.7 billion in rebuilding loans
TOKYO, April 7 (UPI) -- The Bank of Japan said it would provide $11.7 billion in loans for areas crippled by the March 11 earthquake, even as a significant aftershock struck Thursday.
The New York Times said rescue efforts were under way to find victims of Thursday's 7.4-magnitude aftershock, a follow-up to the 9-magnitude quake in March that killed thousands, halted many industries and crippled a nuclear reactor 140 miles north of Tokyo.
The Bank of Japan has already intervened to weaken the yen, which spiked after the March 11 quake and has increased an asset purchasing program meant to correct a deflationary trend. On Thursday, the central bank said in a statement that, "Japan's economy is under strong downward pressure, mainly on production, due to the earthquake."
"There is high uncertainty about the possible effects of the earthquake disaster on Japan's economy," the bank said.
Policy makers at the bank also kept its key lending rate between zero and 0.1 percent.
Policy makers for the bank are set to meet next on April 28. At that point, the bank will have more data available on the impact the earthquakes have had on industrial production, as well as better estimates of rebuilding costs.
"It is one thing to assess the immediate impact of the quake. But the far more interesting question now is what will happen in coming months," said Masaaki Kanno, an economist at JP Morgan in Tokyo.
The Times said tsunami warnings were issued after the aftershock it, but that high waves were not expected.
Madoff tags four investors with blame
BUTNER, N.C., April 7 (UPI) -- Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff in a prison interview in North Carolina said four large investors in his securities firm were "complicit" in the fraud.
"They were complicit, all of them, which is why they are all settling," Madoff told the Financial Times, referring to investors Jeffry Picower, Stanley Chais, Norman Levy and Carl Shapiro in an interview at the Butner federal prison in North Carolina.
Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee in the case, has sued all four of the investors who reaped enormous gains from their association with Madoff.
Picower's estate agreed to give up $7.2 billion in ill-gotten gains, while Shapiro gave up $625 million. Levy, who died last year, gave up $220 million of his earnings from Madoff investments, while the case against Chais is ongoing.
Picower died in October 2009.
All four helped Madoff find investors for his firm, which lost an estimated $65 billion of investor funds.
Madoff also said three banks -- JP Morgan & Chase, UBS and HSBC -- should have known his business was fraudulent.
"JP Morgan doesn't have a chance in hell of not coming up with a big settlement," Madoff said.
Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to 11 felony counts, including securities fraud, money laundering and perjury.
When he was arrested in 2008, Madoff at first insisted he operated the fraud entirely by himself.
Toys 'R' Us to sell Apple iPad2
NEW YORK, April 7 (UPI) -- Technology trackers said Thursday U.S. retail giant Toys "R" Us would soon be selling Apple's hot-selling iPad2.
Web site ModMyi reported a Toys "R" Us employee had sent it training material for iPad2 sales.
The material reviews iPad2 features and lists "accessories available at 'R' Us."
Intomobile reported the device is available at 10,000 retail outlets, including Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Radio Shack. Toys "R" Us also carries Apple's iPod.
A recent survey showed a move to a Toys "R" Us customer base might be a wise move for Apple. A Piper Jaffray survey said 20 percent of teenagers recently indicated they intended to buy a computer tablet within the next six months.
