• FINANCIAL & BUSINESS NEWS

Last Update on September 03, 2010 03:35 EDT

WALL STREET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock prices edged higher in the latest session, ahead of today's key report on the job market.

That marked an extension of gains from the previous day after reports on housing, manufacturing and jobs all indicated that the economy continues to grow.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 51 points to 10,320. The S&P 500 was up 10 points to 1,090. And the Nasdaq surged 23 to 2,200.

About two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was light at 960 million shares.

Bond prices dipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.63 percent from 2.58 percent late Wednesday. That yield helps set interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans.

WORLD MARKETS

TOKYO (AP) -- Most Asian stock markets climbed Friday as investors took heart from a slight improvement in U.S. economic indicators amid lingering worries over the pace of the global economic recovery.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei rose 0.3 percent and South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.2 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained less than 0.1 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.1 percent. Markets in New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan also advanced. But the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.9 percent.

OIL PRICES

BANGKOK (AP) -- Oil prices lingered near $75 a barrel Friday in Asia, largely holding onto a big gain the day before as investors put a positive spin on U.S. economic reports and Asian stock markets rose. Benchmark oil for October delivery was down 30 cents at $74.72 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.11 to settle at $75.02 on Thursday.

ECONOMY

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For workers and investors, today's report on unemployment will be watched closely.

Economists predict the unemployment rate inched up to 9.6 percent last month from 9.5 percent in July as private employers hired just 41,000 workers last month.

Also, yesterday, the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week. Still, they remain well above levels that indicate a healthy economy. Claims dipped for the second straight week. They fell slightly below the level economists had forecast, which was somewhat encouraging ahead of today's report.

GM-IPO

DETROIT (AP) -- There's word that General Motors plans to start trading shares again on Nov. 18. That timing would allow the company another quarter of earnings to build its case to investors.

The report is coming from a firm that researches initial public offerings.

Scott Sweet, the managing partner of IPO Boutique, said GM plans to price the shares on Nov. 17 and begin selling them the next day. He said the automaker wants to start a two-week a road show to drum up investor interest on Nov. 3, the day after the midterm congressional elections.

Two people with knowledge of the process say the automaker's board hasn't approved a date for the IPO but is expected to meet next week to discuss the issue. GM is in a "quiet period" before an IPO, so no one is authorized to discuss the process publicly.

The company filed paperwork for an initial public offering with federal regulators last month.

BRITAIN-BP

LONDON (AP) -- BP says it has so far spent $8 billion responding to the disastrous oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company says the total includes $399 million paid to settle 127,000 claims from businesses and other affected by the oil spill.

The oil company says more than 28,000 people and 4,000 vessels are still engaged in responding to the spill. BP says no oil has flowed from the well since July 15.

SUNOCO-HENDERSON

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Sunoco has tapped former General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson to lead the energy spin-off it is forming early next year.

The 52-year-old Henderson is joining Pittsburgh-based Sunoco as a senior vice president and will help prepare for SunCoke Energy to split from the oil refining and gasoline station giant in the first half of 2011. He will then become chairman and CEO of SunCoke, which is Sunoco's metallurgical coke manufacturing operations.

Coke is a key ingredient used to make steel. The company provides coke for steel manufacturers in the U.S. and Brazil. SunCoke Energy has operations in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.

TAINTED EGGS-INSPECTORS

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- U.S. Agriculture Department employees worked full-time at two Iowa egg farms at the center of a salmonella outbreak and massive recall, but two former workers say they didn't respond to complaints about conditions at one site.

Agency spokesman Caleb Weaver says the employees' main duties are to grade eggs in packaging areas and aren't primarily responsible for looking for health problems.

Two former workers at Wright County Egg facilities, Robert and Deanna Arnold, say they reported problems such as leaking manure and dead chickens to USDA employees but were ignored and told to return to work. Weaver says the USDA employee in charge of the site never received any complaints but that the investigation is continuing.

The salmonella outbreak has led to a recall of about 550 million eggs.

DISNEY-TIME WARNER CABLE

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Time Warner Cable customers will finally get access to the sports website ESPN3.com, even if they are not subscribers to the company's Internet plan.

In a long-term deal with Disney announced Thursday, ESPN3.com access will be made available to all of Time Warner Cable's video subscribers without an extra charge.

ESPN3.com offers full game videos, and recently carried live World Cup games that weren't being shown on ABC.

Time Warner Cable and its affiliate, Bright House Networks, had long been holdouts, saying Disney's pattern of tying fees to the number of Internet subscribers was inappropriate.

The long-term deal also ensures Disney gets carriage of a new 24-hour channel called Disney Junior, which launches in 2012.