Oil's closing Thursday is lowest since April Crude oil closed at its lowest price in five months Thursday as a lower-than-expected decrease in U.S. gasoline supplies gave traders more reason to believe that a cooling economy is forcing Americans to drive less. Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell $1.46 to settle at $107.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest settlement price for a front-month contract since April 4.
Service sector grew more than expected The U.S. service sector grew unexpectedly in August for the first time in three months as new orders improved and inflation moderated, a private trade group said Thursday. The Institute for Supply Management, a group of purchasing executives, said the services sector index rose to 50.6 in August from 49.2 in July. It beat economists' prediction of 50.0, according to a Thomson Financial/IFR survey. A reading above 50 indicates growth.
Banks increase borrowing from Fed program Banks borrowed more over the past week from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program, while Wall Street firms took a pass for the fifth week in a row. A Fed report released Thursday said commercial banks averaged $18.98 billion in daily borrowing over the past week. That compared with a daily average of $18.47 billion in the previous week.
New-vehicle prices drop at a record rate New vehicle prices are falling at the fastest rate ever recorded, J.P. Morgan auto analyst Himanshu Patel and economic analyst Marc Levinson said in a research report. Citing government data, they reported that the average price of a new vehicle in the second quarter fell 2.3 percent from a year earlier to $25,632 -- the steepest drop recorded in the bank's 41-year-old survey. Although vehicle sales are expected to remain weak in the near term, the analysts said, the price decrease could translate into a big recovery for auto sales by the second half of 2009.
Median home-price decline slows in quarter The median price of a U.S. single-family home slipped at an annual rate of 5.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 6.6 percent decline in the first quarter of this year, according to the House Prices in America study that Global Insight Inc. released Thursday. The most severe declines were in California, Florida and Michigan, representing 43 of the 50 worst-performing metropolitan areas. Other cities in the bottom 50 include Las Vegas, Phoenix and Washington.
Two European banks leave rates unchanged The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England left their key interest rates unchanged Thursday, reluctant to move them lower as rising prices offset the fear of weaker growth and recession. In London, the Bank of England kept its benchmark rate steady at 5 percent. The Frankfurt, Germany-based ECB left its interest rate at 4.25 percent and warned of slower economic growth of 1.1 to 1.7 percent this year.
CEO to leave BP-Russian joint venture BP and its billionaire Russian partners in the joint venture TNK-BP have agreed on a deal that forces out embattled CEO Robert Dudley and signals an end to a struggle for control of the Russian-British company, officials said Thursday. Under the deal Dudley, a U.S. citizen who's been running TNK-BP from abroad since leaving Russia in July, will step down by year's end. BP will nominate a new, independent CEO who must be approved by the TNK-BP board.
Pernod to distribute own Vin & Spirit brands French wine and spirits company Pernod Ricard said it is taking full control of distribution of its Vin & Spirit brands, including Absolut Vodka, as of October. The announcement of the end of a distribution deal with Maxxium for non-U.S. sales follows the early termination of Pernod's distribution contract for Vin & Spirit brands with Future Brands Inc. in the United States, announced last week.
