N.Y. Exchange goes 50-50 Wednesday
NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The New York Stock Exchange split right down the middle as investors sorted through a slew of economic reports Wednesday.
Reports from China showed business activity growing in September, but at a slower pace than in August.
In Europe, the Purchasing Manager's Index for the service sector came to 46.1 in September, a small improvement from August but still showing contraction, as numbers below 50 indicate business activity slowing down.
On the domestic front, Automatic Data Processing Inc. said 162,000 private sector jobs were added to the U.S. economy in September, a smaller job gain than August. ADP said 189,000 jobs were added in August, 12,000 fewer than initially announced.
On the New York Stock Exchange, half went north and half went south, as 1,512 stocks advanced and 1,513 declined on a volume of 3.5 billion shares traded. Another 110 stocks were unchanged on the exchange.
By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 12.25 or 0.09 percent to 13,494.61. The Nasdaq composite index added 15.19 points or 0.49 percent to 3,135.23. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.24 points or 0.36 percent to 1,450.99.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note rose 1/32 to yield 1.621 percent.
The euro fell to $1.2905 from Tuesday's $1.2919. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 78.5 yen from 78.18 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.45 percent, 39.18, to 8,746.87.
In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.28 percent, 16.36 points, to 5,825.81.
Walmart faces another gender bias case
NASHVILLE, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. retail giant Walmart discriminates against women with unequal pay and unfair promotions, plaintiffs allege in court papers filed in Nashville.
The lawsuit that covers Tennessee and four surrounding states was filed on behalf of three woman as part of a new strategy on the part of plaintiffs, whose earlier attempt to make a gender bias case against Walmart was dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2011.
The nation's highest court ruled the nationwide class action case representing millions of women was too broad and covered too many classes of employees to fit into one suit, The Tennessean reported Wednesday.
The lawsuit filed in Nashville is the third regional discrimination suit filed against Walmart since the Supreme Court rejected the nationwide case.
Class-action cases have also been filed in Northern California and Northern Texas. Both of those cases were filed in October 2011, the newspaper said.
In response, Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said the regional cases were similar to the national case and were inappropriate as class-action lawsuits.
"Walmart has strong policies against discrimination," Hargrove added. The plaintiffs in the regional case filing "are not representative of the hundreds of thousands of employees who work at Walmart," he said.
Plaintiffs' attorney David Garrison said the women "are standing up for thousands of their fellow workers to fight back against Walmart's discriminatory employment practices."
Florida turns up heat on property owners
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Insurance regulators in Florida approved a 10.8 percent rate hike for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to reduce the program's size, a state senator said.
Set up by the state as a property insurance plan for those without property insurance, the state government now contends that the program charges property owners less than market value, which could put the state's taxpayers at risk in the event of a major storm, the Tampa Bay, Fla., Times reported Wednesday.
"This is the mentality of Tallahassee -- raise rates as high as you can, force people out," said Republican state Sen. Mike Fasano.
The rates follow a pattern of higher expenses and lower benefits for property owners, including increased deductibles for storm damage, higher rates and the elimination of discounts, the newspaper said.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has supported the effort to shrink the state insurance program, which covers 1.4 million people, the Times said.
With the latest rate hike, the Times said the average insurance bill will increase by $250 per year once their insurance plans are renewed.
Private companies are also moving in on households made more vulnerable by the rate increase.
Five companies are sending out 210,000 letters to offer to take over policies from the state program. The homeowners will then have 30 days to switch to a private firm or their contracts will be taken over automatically by a private company, the Times said.
"Citizens is pleased that Insurance Commissioner (Kevin) McCarty has approved its measured approach to achieving sound rates and reducing the potential financial burden of assessments for all Floridians," Christine Ashburn, a spokeswoman for the program, said."
Juniper Networks confirms 500 layoffs
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. computer network producer Juniper Networks confirmed it would lay off about 500 workers to reduce operating costs.
CRN.com reported Wednesday the layoffs amount to 5 percent of the company's workforce.
The company said layoffs would be meted out across the company and "speculation that our workforce reductions are primarily affecting the QFabric team is inaccurate."
QFabric is the company's converged data center system, CRN.com said.
"Our actions to reduce operating expenses fall across our support functions. ... They are being carefully planned and managed to maximize efficiencies in our cost structure while preserving the investments in innovation in our core businesses of data center, routing, switching and security," the company spokesperson said.
