Markets closed mixed
NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. markets pared down early gains Thursday on a mix of economic news from Europe and Washington.
Germany's Parliament approved an expanded aid program for struggling European countries, giving stocks an early boost. The country was seen as a critical test for the proposal that must still face votes in Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia to pass.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis Thursday said the U.S. gross domestic product rose 1.3 percent in the second quarter. The report comprises the last of a trio of estimates released by the Commerce Department. The current estimate is slightly above expectations and 0.3 percentage points higher than the second estimate released a month earlier.
By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 143.08 points, or 1.3 percent, to 11,153.98, down from an early gain of 242.83 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 9.34 points, 0.81 percent, to 1,160.40. The Nasdaq composite index lost 10.82 points, 0.43 percent, to 2,480.76.
The benchmark 10-year treasury fell 5/32 to yield 1.995 percent.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,178 stocks advanced and 858 declined on a volume of 4.4 billion shares traded.
The euro rose to $1.3588 from Wednesday's $1.3544. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 76.82 yen from Wednesday's 76.61 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.99 percent, 85.58 points, to 8,701.23.
In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4 percent, 20.79, to 5,196.84.
A rare bipartisan accord: Sell stuff
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Several elected officials in Washington said selling federal property is one budget-reduction idea that may appeal to Democrats and Republicans alike.
"This is something we can have bipartisan agreement on," said Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., The New York Times reported Thursday.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a member of the supercommittee charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget cuts over the next 10 years, said what amounts to a federal yard sale would likely find support among Democrats and Republicans.
A property sale, however, would have many twists and turns from attempts to sell sentimental favorites to sales of property with environmental concerns, such as Plum Island, N.Y., an 840-acre island that is the former home of the federal Animal Disease Center.
Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, reportedly supports the idea, which President Barack Obama has included in budget plans.
The government has more than a million properties and could realize about $22 billion from selling property it no longer needs and public airwaves currently dedicated to broadband television, the Times said.
Of the $22 billion, 80 percent would come from the sale of airwaves the Obama administration has said would be best put to use serving broadband wireless.
In some regards, selling federal property would be a quick way to raise money if it weren't for the federal bureaucracy that would get in its way. A bill in the House sponsored by Denham and one in the Senate sponsored by Scott Brown, R-Mass., would create a commissions to streamline the process, the Times said.
S&P ups GM's rating, says maybe to Ford
NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Standard & Poor's rating service said it was giving U.S. automaker General Motors an upgraded credit rating based on its new labor contract.
The United Auto Workers Union ratified a four-year contract with GM this week, prompting S&P to push GM's rating from BB minus to BB plus, one increment below investment grade, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.
"We believe the contract will allow for continued profitability and cash generation in North America,"said S&P Managing Director Robert Schulz in a statement.
GM Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann said, "Our fortress balance sheet and low break-even point are helping us succeed even in uncertain economic times, so we can stay focused on building great products and driving profitable growth around the world."
Looking ahead to a potential UAW agreement with Ford Motor Co., Shulz said, "We expect to raise our rating on Ford to BB+ and assign a stable outlook if Ford's U.S. labor negotiations are resolved and ratified, and the outcome does not place Ford at a significant disadvantage relative to …General Motor Co.'s recently concluded labor contract."
Auto supplier to pay $200M for price scam
DETROIT, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department said a Japanese parts supplier for the automobile industry would pay $200 million to settle a case of price fixing and bid rigging.
Three executives from Japan -- Junichi Funo, Hirotsugu Nagata and Tetsuya Ukai -- agreed to serve prison sentences that range from 12 to 18 months after pleading guilty to their part in the scam, the department said in a statement.
Four separate one-count felony charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.
The company and the executives "engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids for and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of automotive wire harnesses and related products sold to customers in the United States and elsewhere," the statement said.
The charges are part of a broader ongoing investigation in auto parts price fixing with cooperation from the three executives.
"As a result of this international price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracy, automobile manufacturers paid non-competitive and higher prices for parts in cars sold to U.S. consumers. This cartel harmed an important industry in our nation's economy," said Sharis Pozen, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.
"When companies partner to control and price fix bids or contracts, it undermines the foundation of the United States' economic system," FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena said.
