Ford April sales off 32 pct, gains market share
DETROIT (AP) -- Record sales
of its fuel-efficient Fusion helped Ford grab a bigger slice of the U.S. car
market in April, even as its overall sales dropped 32 percent.
The gains could come at the
expense of its Detroit rivals, which are struggling to attract buyers soured by
shrinking incomes and auto bankruptcy worries. General Motors Corp. and
Chrysler LLC report April sales later Friday.
Chrysler to close 5 more
plants; court case begins
NEW YORK (AP) -- Attorneys
for Chrysler LLC said the company will file a motion by Saturday morning to
sell substantially all of its assets to Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA, but
that won't include eight plants, including five that the automaker revealed it
will shutter by the end of next year.
While Chrysler faced its
first hearing Friday in Manhattan bankruptcy court, court documents showed the
ailing automaker plans to close five more plants in Michigan, Missouri, Ohio
and Wisconsin that employ about 4,800 people. Chrysler said they will be
offered jobs at other plants.
Manufacturing declines at
slower rate in April
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S.
manufacturing activity in April posted its best showing since September, when
the financial crisis erupted. The performance was driven by a rise in new
orders reflecting higher business and consumer spending.
The strength in
forward-pointing new orders was especially encouraging. It indicated that after
slashing inventories in the first quarter, manufacturers see the need to place
new orders for other businesses and consumers.
More orders signal that
higher consumer spending -- which accounts for about 70 percent of economic
activity -- is causing businesses to boost demand. Such spending is crucial to
an economic recovery.
The Institute for Supply
Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said its manufacturing
index rose to 40.1 in April from 36.3 in March. While anything below 50
indicates manufacturing is contracting, 40.1 was the highest level since
September. In March, the index was 36.3.
Stocks rise after mixed
economic, earnings news
NEW YORK (AP) -- Traders put
in more of the "buy" orders Friday that propelled the market in April
to its best one-month performance in nine years.
Stocks ended higher on a day
of quiet back-and-forth trading as investors determined that mixed economic
data and earnings reports were reason enough to extend the gains seen in March
and April.
Wall Street has been growing
more optimistic about the economy stabilizing, but the reports Friday brought a
reminder that business conditions remain difficult and that a recovery in the
economy is likely to be gradual.
Gov't official: bank test
results to come Thursday
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Federal Reserve will release results Thursday of "stress tests" for
the 19 large banks at the center of the nation's financial crisis. The results
will shed light on which banks may need government support to withstand a more
severe recession.
The Fed will detail the
health of individual banks and provide an overall snapshot, according to a
government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitive nature of the matter. The information will be released Thursday
afternoon, the official said.
Negotiations between banks
and regulators about the test results pushed back the release date, which was
expected to be earlier in the week.
New TALF program launches in
June
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The
Federal Reserve announced Friday that it will launch a much-awaited program in
June to bolster commercial real-estate lending.
And, to help make the
program more attractive to investors, the Fed will provide longer, five-year
loans.
Investors would use the
money to buy securities backed by commercial real-estate loans.
The goal is to boost the
availability of these loans, help prevent defaults on commercial properties like
office parks and malls, and facilitate the sale of distressed properties, the
Fed said.
The new commercial
real-estate component is part of a broader program rolled out in March that
aims to jump-start lending to consumers and small businesses called the Term
Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF.
Sumitomo Mitsui to buy
brokerage from Citigroup
TOKYO (AP) -- Sumitomo
Mitsui is taking over Citigroup's Japan brokerage businesses, both sides said
Friday, as part of a bigger plan to restructure the struggling U.S. bank. The
deal is Japan's first acquisition of a leading brokerage by a bank.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial
Group Inc. will acquire Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. and some parts of Nikko
Citigroup's Japan operations for about 545 billion yen ($5.6 billion).
MasterCard 1Q profit falls
18 pct, beats estimates
NEW YORK (AP) -- Credit card
and global payments processor MasterCard Inc. said Friday its first-quarter
profit fell 18 percent from the year-ago period that included a special gain on
the sale of an investment. Its earnings still topped analysts' expectations.
Despite the
better-than-expected results, shares of MasterCard fell sharply as the company
said income growth during the year will fall below its long-term outlook of 20
percent to 30 percent because of the struggling global economy.
Chevron 1Q profit falls 64
pct as oil prices drop
HOUSTON (AP) -- The top
international oil companies were expected to deliver the ugliest first-quarter
results in several years, and there were few surprises.
Chevron Corp. capped off a
bleak stretch of earnings reports for major oil companies Friday, posting net
income that plunged 64 percent from a year ago as it too was stung by lower oil
and natural gas prices.
For Chevron, the
second-largest U.S. oil company, it marked the lowest quarterly earnings since
2003.
After years of rising prices
and robust profits, the oil and gas sector is trying to adjust to vastly
different market conditions. In the ongoing recession, people simply aren't
using as much energy.
It wasn't all bad news at
Chevron. Because it and other integrated oil companies must buy oil to make
fuel for everything from planes to automobiles, lower crude prices actually
helped lift earnings at its refining business, and its overall oil production
increased from a year ago.
US carriers cutting service
to Mexico
DALLAS (AP) -- Continental
Airlines Inc. and Delta said Friday they will reduce service to Mexico, as
swine flu fears keeps many U.S. travelers from venturing south of the border.
Continental, the biggest
U.S. carrier to Mexico, said it will cut by half the number of seats it sells
to fly to Mexico beginning Monday. The Houston-based airline said it will work
with travelers to get them where they need to go, although schedules and routes
might change.
Delta Air Lines Inc.
announced late Friday that it too will reduce its Mexico service to match
declining demand, but it didn't indicate how deep the cuts would be.
Southwest Airlines Co.
doesn't fly to Mexico, but its chief executive said bookings within the U.S.
may have softened in the past week in response to concern about flying.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 44.29, or 0.5
percent, to 8,212.41.
Broader market measures also
posted gains. The S&P 500 index rose 4.71, or 0.5 percent, to 877.52, and
the Nasdaq composite index rose 1.90, or 0.1 percent, to 1,719.20.
For the week, the Dow rose
1.7 percent, the S&P 500 index added 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.5
percent.
Benchmark crude for June
delivery rose $2.08 to settle at $53.20 a barrel Friday on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Prices climbed as high as $53.65 a barrel earlier in the
day, the highest oil has been in a month.
In London, Brent prices
increased $2.05 to settle at $52.85 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Gasoline futures for June
delivery rose 5.16 cents to settle at $1.5174 a gallon. Natural gas for June
delivery was up 17.3 cents to settle at $3.546 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating
oil for June delivery rose 5.16 cents to settle at $1.3884 a gallon.