UPI NewsTrack Business

Central banks hit a nerve, boosting stocks

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks headed higher following a upswing in Europe where markets reacted to news that five central banks would coordinate relief for European banks.

The European Central Bank in conjunction with the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank said it would "conduct three U.S. dollar liquidity-providing operations with a maturity of approximately three months covering the end of the year," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Markets in Asia closed with gains after a three-day rally on Wall Street. In Europe, stocks soared with markets 3 percent higher in Belgium and nearly 3 percent higher in Germany, France, and Italy.

At the close, the London FTSE 100 index in Britain was up 2.11 percent, the German DAX was up 3.15 and the French CAC was up 3.27.

In early afternoon trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 129.50 points or 1.15 percent to 11,376.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 12.34 points or 1.04 percent to 1,201.02. The Nasdaq composite index of tech-dominated stock gained 20.06 points or 0.78 percent to 2,592.61.

The 10-year treasury note fell 22/32 to yield 2.07 percent.

The euro rose to $1.3868 from Wednesday's $1.3754. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 76.7525 yen from Wednesday's 76.62 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.76 percent, 150.29, to 8,668.86.

Auto talks inconclusive at deadline

DETROIT, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Two automakers in Detroit agreed to extend the contract that expired Wednesday night and a third may be close to a new contract, the Detroit Free Press said.

The United Auto Workers' four-year contract expired at one minute before midnight.

It was unlikely Chrysler Group LLC would comes to terms with the United Auto Workers, the newspaper said. Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said in a letter to UAW President Bob King he was prepared to bargain Wednesday night but he said King didn't come to the table.

Marchionne interrupted a stop in Frankfurt, Germany, to travel to Detroit for the final contract talks, the report said. Marchionne said he would not be in the country for the next week but said he would agree to extend the terms of the old contract for a week.

King was taking part in talks with General Motors Co., where negotiators were working toward a deal, the Free Press reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.

The 2007 contract that expired Wednesday night covered about 72,000 GM and Chrysler workers.

The UAW had previously agreed to extend the deadline for a contract covering about 40,6000 workers at Ford Motor Co.

CPI up 0.4 percent July to August

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- The Consumer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in August while the core rate rose 0.2 percent, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The index has risen 3.8 percent in the last 12 months before the seasonal adjustment, the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a release. That is sightly higher than the 3.6 percent annual rate in July and the consensus expectation for August, which was also 3.6 percent.

The core inflation figure, which excludes food and energy, rose 2 percent on an annual basis in August. From July, core prices rose 0.2 percent.

Food prices were up 0.5 percent month-to-month and 4.6 percent on a 12-month basis. Energy prices from July to August rose 1.2 percent after falling 1 percent 1 percent April to May and 4.4 percent May to June.

Energy prices turned higher in the previous report, climbing 2.8 percent June to July. In the current report covering July to August, energy prices rose a modest 1.2 percent.

The gasoline index followed a similar pattern, falling 2 percent in May and 6.8 percent in June. In July, gas prices rose 4.7 percent. In the current report, gasoline prices rose a more modest 1.9 percent.

Default notices up 33 percent in August

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. foreclosure activity and default notices both rose in August, with defaults climbing 33 percent, a private real estate firm said Thursday.

RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosed properties, said foreclosure activity rose 7 percent compared to July with foreclosures affecting one out of every 570 housing units in the United States.

Foreclosure activity, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, are down 33 percent from August 2010, involving 228,098 housing units in the month.

Default notices, however, rose more than 40 percent in three states. In New Jersey, default notices rose 42 percent; Indiana, 46 percent, and California, 55 percent.

In Nevada, one out of every 118 housing units was involved in foreclosure in August, RealtyTrac said -- the highest ratio in the country. Coming in second was California where one out of every 226 housing units was involved in foreclosure. Arizona posted the third highest ratio, with one out of every 248 housing units involved some stage of foreclosure in the state in August.

"The big increase in new foreclosure actions may be a signal that lenders are starting to push through some of the foreclosures delayed by robo-signing and other documentation problems," said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

"It also foreshadows more bank repossessions in the coming months as these new foreclosures make their way through the process," he said.

Several major U.S. lenders suspended foreclosure activities after a paperwork processing scandal surfaced in the summer of 2010. Banks were accused of taking short cuts on paperwork that short-changed homeowner's rights to due process.