U.S. stock markets close lower
NEW YORK, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- New York stock markets dropped Thursday, after a jump in weekly first-time jobless benefits claims, erasing last week's impressive figures.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose by 46,000 to 388,000 a week after a drop of 30,000 claims the previous week had put the weekly number at a 56-month low.
A reversal had been expected, but not one quite so dramatic.
By close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 8.06 points, or 0.06 percent, to 13,548.94. The Nasdaq composite index was down 31.26, or 1.01 percent, to 3,072.87. The Standard and Poor's 500 index lost 3.57 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,457.34.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,482 stocks advanced and 1,545 declined on a volume of 3.8 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 3/32 to yield 1.835 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3066 from Wednesday's $1.312. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 79.26 yen from 78.97 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index added 2 percent, 176.31 points, to 8,982.86.
In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 0.1 percent, 6.14, to 5,917.05.
Newsweek to go all-digital in 2013
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Executives at Newsweek said the news weekly's last print edition would be published Dec. 31, as it moves to an all-digital format for its 80th anniversary year.
Editor Tina Brown and Chief Executive Officer of Newsweek and The Daily Beast Baba Shetty said in a statement Thursday the digital edition would be named Newsweek Global and that the plan was to expand its "growing tablet and online presence."
"We've taken the big digital step," Brown said.
"We really feel that we must embrace the future. You know Newsweek is approaching its 80th anniversary next year and we want it to have the next 80 years start in the way that the future is there."
"It's really only a question of when at this point in the print industry," she said, referring to the switch from hard copy printed on paper to an all-digital production.
To generations, Newsweek has been a news stand stalwart with front covers that set the tone for the week's top stories.
In financial trouble, the magazine was sold by The Washington Post to elderly philanthropist Sidney Harman, who bought Newsweek for $1 in August 2010 and took over its debts and pledged to keep it going.
But Harman died in April 2011 at age 92. His family then unloaded Newsweek, which was picked up by the digital news company, The Daily Beast, which was two years old at the time.
The company said Thursday that Newsweek and The Daily Beast "continued to post and publish distinctive journalism and have demonstrated explosive online growth in the process."
The Daily Beast now boasts an audience of 15 million unique visitors each month.
The plan for Newsweek is to have it available by paid subscription on the Internet in a format that is tablet-friendly, the company said.
New management for Canada's XL Foods
EDMONTON, Alberta, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A Brazilian conglomerate is assuming management of a Canadian beef processor at the center of Canada's largest recall due to bacterial contamination.
In a statement, JBS USA, a subsidiary of JBS S.A. of Brazil, said it reached agreement to manage the troubled family-run XL Foods plant in Brooks, Alberta, the Globe and Mail said.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered the plant closed Sept. 27, idling some 2,000 workers after E. coli contamination made at least 15 people in Canada sick.
XL Foods also exports various meat products to 20 other countries.
The U.S. division of JBS S.A. will oversee XL's Canadian operations and also leave an option open to purchase it for $50 million and $50 million in JBS shares.
JBS spokesman Cameron Bruett said he expected a decision on the purchase would be made within six months.
Earlier this week, food inspectors allowed 800 laid-off workers to return to the Brooks plant to process thousands of carcasses in cold storage under strict supervision. It took two days to complete, but the regulator hasn't indicated if the processing was satisfactory.
Mid-Atlantic manufacturing makes gains
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its key mid-Atlantic manufacturing index pushed slightly higher in October, indicating a return to growth.
The business survey, taken midway through the month, found the diffusion index of manufacturing activity gained eight points to 5.7, climbing above the breakeven level of zero for the first time in six months.
In the previous two months, the index gained five and six points, respectively.
The component index for new orders added 2 points to reach minus 0.6. The shipments index, which climbed a month earlier, was flat in October, the Fed said.
The index for employment, measuring the number of employees, was down slightly, off 3 points to minus 10.7, hitting its lowest point since September 2009.
In the month, 22 percent of respondents to the Fed's survey indicated the number of employees at their firms was declining while 11 percent indicated their firms were adding employees, the Fed said.
