WASHINGTON (AP) -- A move by
Australia's central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate, the first major
economy to do so since the financial crisis worsened last fall, may signal a
vote of confidence in a global recovery.
Still, most economists don't
expect the Federal Reserve or other major central banks to follow Australia's
lead and raise rates anytime soon. Australia's economy is healthier than the
U.S. or European economies, due to rising prices for metals and other
commodities it produces.
But the decision by the
Reserve Bank of Australia to reverse some of the steep rate cuts it implemented
last year is a sign the economy is improving in parts of the world, analysts
said. A healthier world economy could help the United States by boosting
exports.
Boeing sees $1B 3Q charge
from rising 747-8 costs
UNDATED (AP) -- Boeing Co.
said Tuesday it will record a $1 billion charge because of a delay in producing
a new version of the 747 freighter jet, blaming slow sales and late design
changes.
It's the second time in four
months that the company has announced delays in delivering a new aircraft
model. In June, it announced a further postponement of the 787, a highly
anticipated passenger plane which is more than two years behind schedule.
The troubles come as the
airplane maker grapples with dwindling orders amid the global economic
downturn, which has undercut demand for air travel and cargo services. Some
airlines have been forced to cancel or delay plans to buy new planes. Boeing
has cut costs and announced plans to slash thousands of jobs and scale back
production of some aircraft.
Stocks surge as investors
bet on corporate profits
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors
barreled into stocks for a second day, betting that corporate profits will
surge as the global economy recovers.
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 132 points to 9,731.25, bringing its two-day advance to 244, as
major stock indicators rose more than 1 percent.
Investors' show of
confidence ahead of flood of corporate earnings reports came as Australia became
the first major country to raise interest rates since the onset of the
financial crisis last year. The move signals that policymakers see the
country's economy as strong enough to withstand higher borrowing costs. That
touched off hopes that other economies may also be strengthening.
Delphi emerges from Chapter
11
NEW YORK (AP) -- Auto
supplier Delphi said Tuesday that it has completed a deal with its lenders to
allow it to exit bankruptcy protection nearly four years to the day it filed
for Chapter 11.
Delphi Holdings LLP, created
by the company's emergence from bankruptcy court oversight, said it has
finished acquiring most of Delphi Corp.'s core businesses as called for in its
restructuring plan.
Rodney O'Neal will remain
the Troy, Mich.-based company's president and CEO. The company's current
executives will continue to manage its global operations, Delphi said.
On July 30, the bankruptcy
judge overseeing Delphi's case approved the auto supplier's plan to hand
control of the company to its lenders and pave the way for it to emerge from
Chapter 11.
National retail group offers
weak holiday forecast
NEW YORK (AP) -- After
parents cut back on clothes and accessories for children this past fall, the
retail industry suspects they won't be any more generous by the holidays.
The National Retail
Federation, usually bullish about holiday sales, predicts a 1 percent decline
in total sales to $437.6 billion for November and December combined. The
projection from the world's largest retail trade group comes amid forecasts
that U.S. retailers saw a key measure of sales drop in September for the 13th
month in a row compared with a year earlier.
The NRF is less optimistic
this year than several other groups offering holiday sales forecasts.
Weak dollar, strong stock
market push oil higher
UNDATED (AP) -- Oil prices
climbed Tuesday as the combination of a weaker dollar and stronger stock market
outweighed concerns about weak demand and vast supplies of crude.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery rose 47 cents to settle at $70.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Meanwhile, the government
said in its annual winter outlook Tuesday that lower fuel costs and an expected
milder winter for much of the nation will cut average winter heating costs by 8
percent from last year to about $960 this winter.
The dollar fell on Tuesday
toward year lows against the euro and yen after Britain's Independent newspaper
reported that Arab states, China, Russia, Japan and France were meeting
secretly to end the dollar's role in pricing oil. Several countries denied such
talks had taken place.
NY jury hears Vivendi class
action case
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Vivendi
media group lied to the public by hiding its precarious financial condition
early this decade, a lawyer for shareholders told a jury at the opening of a
trial Tuesday. But a lawyer for the company said Vivendi acted properly.
Attorney Arthur Abbey
outlined his case in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on behalf of thousands of
investors from the United States, France, England and the Netherlands, saying
Vivendi failed to tell the truth as its finances soured in 2001 and 2002.
He noted that Vivendi was a
Paris-based public water company until it hired Jean-Marie Messier as its chief
executive officer and chairman in 1996. Abbey said Messier, an investment
banker, decided to build a media and communications empire through an ambitious
acquisition spree.
BA cuts 1,000 jobs, will
shrink Heathrow crews
LONDON (AP) -- British
Airways PLC is shedding 1,000 jobs, putting 3,000 more employees on part-time
work and reducing the size of cabin crews at Heathrow in an effort to get the
troubled airline's finances back in order, a spokesman said Tuesday.
BA spokesman Paul Marston
said the company was in "a very serious financial position" and was
working hard to turn itself around with an aggressive cost-reduction program.
The job losses and part-time work, which he said were voluntary, would be the
equivalent of cutting 1,700 positions. He declined to say how much the airline
hoped to save from the cuts.
Marston said BA, which
expects to see a "significant loss" for the second year running,
needed to make changes in order to secure its future in an airline market which
is likely to remain grim for some time.
Canada's Canwest enters
bankruptcy protection
TORONTO (AP) -- Canwest
Global Communications Corp. entered bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after
reaching a deal to restructure its debt with lenders.
Canada's biggest media
company had been unable to make interest payments for months on $4 billion
Canadian ($3.8 billion) in debt and negotiated several extensions with
creditors.
The media giant had reached
an agreement with a key group of lenders to give them a stake in the
restructured company, leaving current shareholders with just 2.3 percent, and
Ontario's Superior Court of Justice approved the request to enter protection.
Keeping warm should be a bit
cheaper this winter
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Staying
warm won't be quite as expensive this winter.
People who heat with natural
gas should do especially well, seeing their lowest bills in five years. But no
matter what fuel is used, heating costs are expected to take less of a bite out
of household budgets in the coming months -- from $20 to as much as $280 lower
than last winter depending on what fuel is used, the government says.
An expected milder winter,
along with lower fuel costs, should cut average residential heating
expenditures by 8 percent from last year, the Energy Information Administration
said in its annual winter outlook on Tuesday.
By The Associated Press
The Dow rose 131.50, or 1.4
percent, to 9,731.25 after rising 112 Monday.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index rose 14.26, or 1.4 percent, to 1,054.72, while the Nasdaq composite
index rose 35.42, or 1.7 percent, to 2,103.57.
Benchmark crude for November
delivery rose 47 cents to settle at $70.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
In other Nymex trading,
heating oil rose 2.26 cents to settle at $1.8142 a gallon and gasoline gained
1.88 cents to settle at $1.7727 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery
lost 10.7 cents to settle at $4.88 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose
52 cents to settle at $68.56 on the ICE Futures exchange.