National business briefs

Crude settles at $118.30; gasoline hits $3.53 Gasoline prices at the pump rose more than 2 cents Wednesday to a national average of $3.53 a gallon. Oil prices also rose, and gas reached new records in the futures market after an Energy Department report raised new questions about fuel supplies. Gasoline inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels last week, about a million barrels more than expected. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 23 cents to settle at $118.30 a barrel. Tuesday, May crude futures rose to a record of $119.90.

Starbucks warns of lower profit Starbucks Corp. warned Wednesday that its second-quarter earnings would fall short of analysts' expectations because of the weak U.S. economy and the cost of its turnaround plan. The world's largest coffee retailer said it expects second-quarter earnings of 15 cents per share on a 12 percent revenue increase, down from earnings of 19 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were predicting a profit of 21 cents per share for the quarter ended March 30.

Liberty Mutual to buy Safeco for $6.2 billion Liberty Mutual Group Inc. has agreed to buy Safeco Corp. for $6.2 billion in cash in a deal to create the nation's fifth-largest property and casualty insurer. The boards of Boston-based Liberty Mutual and Seattle-based Safeco approved the deal, a 51 percent premium over Safeco's closing price Tuesday. The transaction, subject to approval by Safeco shareholders as well as regulators, is expected to close by the end of the third quarter.

Sam's Club limits rice purchases Sam's Club, the membership warehouse division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said it is limiting how much rice customers can buy because of what it calls "recent supply and demand trends." Sam's Club said it will limit customers to four bags at a time of Jasmine, Basmati and long-grain white rice. Rice prices have been hitting new highs recently on worries about tight supplies as part of broader global inflation in food costs.

Centex to quit building homes in Detroit area Centex Corp., the largest U.S. homebuilder, plans to pull out of the Detroit area as demand slumps. Dallas-based Centex will complete homes under construction and those under contract, Eric Bruner, a company spokesman, said. U.S. new home sales fell in February to their lowest in 13 years.

Toyota passes GM in global sales Toyota took the global sales lead from General Motors in the first quarter, capitalizing on growth in China and Europe as GM's North American sales dragged down gains in other markets. Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that it sold 2.41 million vehicles in the January-March period, compared with General Motors Corporation's 2.25 million, prompting one industry analyst to predict that 2008 would be the year Toyota unseats GM in global sales.