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Stocks close with modest gains Thursday

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Stocks closed higher in New York Thursday after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the consumer price index was unchanged from November.

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Prices on an annual basis have climbed 3 percent, the bureau said.

The Department of Commerce said housing starts dropped 4.1 percent in December from November. Permits issued, indicating construction activity one and two months down the road, dropped 0.1 percent, the department said.

In New York, 131-year old photography corporation Kodak secured funds to keep in business but filed for bankruptcy protection to restructure the operation, which has struggled as the focus of the industry has gone from film to microchip.

By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 45.03 points or 0.36 percent to 12,623.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 6.46 points or 0.49 percent to 1,314.50. The Nasdaq composite index gained 18.62 points or 0.67 percent to 2,788.33.

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On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,968 stocks advanced and 1,043 declined on a volume of 4.3 billion shares traded.

The 10-year benchmark treasury note rose 1/32 to yield 1.981 percent.

The euro rose to $1.2968 from Wednesday's $1.2864. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 77.10 yen from Wednesday's 76.83 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.04 percent, 89.10, to 8,639.68.

In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.68 percent, 38.78, to 5,741.15.


GM reclaims top spot in sales

DETROIT, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. automaker General Motors is back at the top of the hill in auto sales, industry data show.

GM lost its perch at the top to Toyota two years ago. But Toyota has had it rough lately. After massive recalls plagued the company, Japan was devastated by a massive earthquake on March 11 that halted production at numerous automobile parts suppliers.

GM sold 5 million vehicles in its two principle markets, China, where sales rose 8.3 percent from 2010 and the United States, where sales rose 13 percent year-to-year, industry research firm IHS Automotive said.

In total, GM sold 9 million vehicles last year, a 7.6 percent gain from 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

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Volkswagen sold the second highest total, selling 8.2 million vehicles, a gain of 14.3 percent of 2010.

But Volkswagen's ascension to No. 2 may not last long, IHS Automotive analyst Colin Couchman said.

Struggling economies in Europe may not be as supportive in 2012 as they were in 2011, Couchman said.

"VW will be hard-pushed to eke out further gains for 2012," he said.

Third in 2011 is likely to be Toyota Motors, which predicted it would sell 7.9 million vehicles in the year, a 6 percent drop from 2010. Toyota's final figures have not yet been released.

In fourth place, Ford Motor Co. with 5.3 million vehicles sold, a 6.9 percent increase from 2010.

The combined sales of Nissan and Renault, which frequently work in alliance, total 6.9 million vehicles, 9.4 percent higher than 2010. If counted together, Nissan-Renault would come in fourth.

Just behind that is Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., which are also seen at times as one firm. Combined, Hyundai and Kia sold 6.5 million vehicles, a 14.6 percent gain from 2010.


Southwest finds room for more seats

DALLAS, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. discount airline Southwest is adding lighter seats to its planes that will save money and, in hindsight, provide new revenue, an executive said.

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The airline said an interior overhaul including seats 6 pounds lighter than the old seats for 372 Boeing 737-300 planes in its fleet and to AirTran's 737-700s and 717s will save $10 million a year in fuel costs, USA Today reported Thursday.

After choosing the new interiors for the $60 million project, Southwest then realized it could add six new seats to most of its planes, affording the airline "a lot of revenue opportunities," Chief Commercial Officer Bob Jordan said.

The seats, which are also thinner than Southwest's current seats, will not "sacrifice comfort," Jordan said. In essence, however, he said, the additional 2,232 new seats will be "like getting 16 new planes for free," Jordan said.

"To pick up that many seats, we would have to purchase 16 new aircraft, which is about $600 million," he said.

Jordan said, "To be clear, it was never our objective to add a row of seats, and the extra row isn't the main reason for this redesign.

"Once we examined how much space would be saved, it was determined we could accommodate the increase, without sacrificing comfort," he said.


Manufacturing grows in mid-Atlantic region

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said manufacturing activity in mid-Atlantic states grew at a moderate pace in January.

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The monthly business survey, taken midway through the month, found the diffusion index of manufacturing activity rose from 6.8 to 7.3.

While the Philadelphia Fed called the gains "moderate," the slow growth is a far cry from August, when the diffusion index stood at minus 30.7.

In January, the index for new orders remained positive, but showed slower growth than a month ago, as the index dropped from 10.7 in December to 6.9.

Numbers below zero indicate a contraction, while numbers above zero indicate growth.

Employment showed growth for the fifth consecutive month with 21 percent of employers in the survey indicating they were hiring and 10 percent indicating the size of their payrolls was declining.

Expectations for future activity showed optimism increasing. The index measuring expectations six months down the road rose from 40 in December to 49, the highest reading for the index since March.

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