Quake and tsunami a blow to fragile Japan economy
The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday forced
multinational companies to close factories, fight fires and move workers,
inflicting at least short-term damage on the Japan's fragile economy.
Assessing the full economic impact was impossible in the hours
after the quake. But traffic clogged streets, trains stopped, flights were
grounded and phone service was disrupted or cut off. U.S. companies DuPont and
Procter & Gamble said communications problems made it hard to gauge the
effect on their operations in Japan.
Japanese stocks plunged. The benchmark Nikkei index fell 1.7
percent, and the Japanese market was only open for about 15 minutes after the
quake.
Still, the damage to Japan's economy, the world's third-largest,
wasn't nearly as severe as it might have been. The devastated northeastern
coastal region is far less developed than the Tokyo metro area.
Tax cuts moved people to shop in February
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans are using the extra money in their
paychecks from tax cuts to buy new cars, clothing, sporting goods and
electronics. The reduction in Social Security taxes helped lift retail sales
for the eighth straight month in February and by the largest amount since the
fall.
Retail sales rose 1 percent last month, the Commerce Department
said Friday. Shoppers returned to department stores after snow storms kept many
away in January. And they flooded car lots to take advantage of deals.
Still, higher oil prices threaten to chip away at consumers'
disposable income over the next few months. Turmoil in the Middle East has sent
oil prices surging this winter. Pump prices jumped 9 percent in February to an
average price of $3.38 a gallon, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
They have gone up even further this month. On Friday, the average price was
$3.54 a gallon.
Tax cuts have helped to ease the shock of higher prices. The
reduction in payroll taxes is giving most Americans an extra $1,000 to $2,000
this year.
Government job openings plunge in January
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Governments advertised far fewer jobs in
January, offering the latest sign that cuts at the state and local level could
slow hiring this year.
There were 2.76 million job openings at the end of January, the
Labor Department said Friday. That's down by 161,000, or 5.5 percent, from
December's revised total.
Half of the decline was the result of fewer state and local
government positions. Those job openings dropped by 80,000, to 239,000 -- the
lowest level of state and local openings since last September. Openings at the
federal, state and local levels fell by 115,000, a 27 percent decline for that
sector.
The monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey also showed
that available jobs in the private sector declined 1.8 percent, to 2.45
million. Professional and business services, which include accountants, lawyers
and temporary jobs, reported a sharp drop. Openings also dipped in education
and health care.
Business inventories and sales rise in January
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Businesses added to their stockpiles in
January for a 13th consecutive month and total sales rose by the largest amount
in 10 months.
Business inventories rose 0.9 percent in January, the Commerce
Department said Friday. Sales for all businesses at the manufacturing,
wholesale and retail level increased 2 percent, the seventh consecutive gain
and the largest since March. Healthy gains in sales and inventory restocking
should translate into strong orders for U.S. factories.
The string of increases in inventories pushed stockpiles to
$1.45 trillion in January. That's a level that economists consider to be
healthy for this stage of the recovery. It's 10.1 percent higher than the
recent low of $1.32 trillion reached in September 2009.
99-Cents Only gets family-led offer to go private
CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. (AP) -- Discount store operator 99
Cents Only Stores has received a proposal to take the company private from the
company's founding family and investment firm Leonard Green & Partners LP.
The offer would value the company at $19.09 per share, or about
$1.3 billion. That's slightly above the $16.68 that the stock closed at before
the deal was announced.
But Wedbush analyst Joan Storms said in a client note that she
believes the offer somewhat undervalues the company. She thinks there is the
potential for a sweetened bid in an effort to ward off any possible competing
offers.
99 Cents Only said Friday that the would-be acquirers include
the Schiffer-Gold family, which owns about 33 percent of its outstanding stock.
Fidelity Investments' 2010 profit rises 17 percent
BOSTON (AP) -- Fidelity Investments said Friday its operating
profit rose 17 percent last year to nearly $3 billion, lifted by gains at the
privately held company's mutual fund sales operations and its brokerage
business.
The company limited expense growth to 4 percent, further
bolstering the bottom line at Boston-based Fidelity. Its work force was 37,000,
unchanged from a year ago but down from a peak of more than 46,000 in 2007.
The nation's second-largest mutual fund company, surpassed last
year by Vanguard Group in the top slot based on fund assets, reports limited
financial performance data in an annual report released to its private
shareholders.
China's February inflation steady at 4.9 percent
BEIJING (AP) -- China's February inflation stayed elevated on a
double-digit rise in food prices, adding to pressure for communist leaders to
cool surging living costs they worry could fuel unrest.
Friday's report came as Beijing promised sweeping efforts this
week to improve life for China's poor and working class with higher wages and
subsidies. Inflation could undercut that by eroding the public's economic
gains.
February consumer prices rose 4.9 percent while food price
inflation accelerated to 11 percent from January's 10.3 percent increase. That
exceeded Beijing's 4 percent target for the year and defied forecasts by
analysts who expected the rate to ease.
Inflation is likely to rise above 5 percent next month and
should decline in the second half of the year, said economist Zhang Xinfa of
Galaxy Securities in Beijing. But Zhang said the outlook was unclear because
Middle East turmoil, high oil costs and a possible weakening of the U.S. dollar
might push inflation still higher.
Euro leaders agree closer economic coordination
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro
agreed Friday to better coordinate their economic policies to improve
competitiveness and keep public deficits in check.
The so-called "pact for the euro" -- formerly dubbed
the "pact for competitiveness" -- is an important prerequisite for
Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, to extending further help to the
eurozone's weaker members as the currency union struggles with a crippling debt
crisis.
In the pact, which will be formally adopted at a wider European
Union summit on March 24-25, eurozone leaders commit themselves to hit annual
benchmarks on economic competitiveness, boosting employment and making their
budgets sustainable in the long term.
Kia recalls 70,000 Optimas for transmission defect
DETROIT (AP) -- Kia Motors is recalling more than 70,000 Optima
midsize sedans to fix transmission problems that can cause the cars to roll
even while they're in park.
The cars are from the 2006 through 2008 model years and were
built from Sept. 29, 2005 to June 13, 2007.
In documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, Kia said that on some of the cars, a transmission shifter cable
was installed incorrectly and can become detached from the shifter. If the
cable comes off, the car would stay in the last gear used even if the driver
puts the transmission in park, the documents said.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 59.79 points, or 0.5
percent, to close at 12,044.40. The S&P 500 rose 9.17, or 0.7 percent, to
1,304.28. The Nasdaq composite gained 14.59, or 0.5 percent, to finish at
2,715.61.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery lost $1.54
to settle at $101.16 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading for April contracts, heating oil dropped
1.59 cents to settle at $3.029 per gallon and gasoline futures lost 3.19 cents
to settle at $2.9877 per gallon.
In London, Brent crude gave up $1.59 to settle at $113.84 per
barrel.