• FINANCIAL & BUSINESS NEWS

Last Update on March 16, 2010 03:25 EDT

Stocks end mixed

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock prices finished mixed in Monday's session, ahead of today's Federal Reserve meeting. Investors tend to be a bit more cautious before the interest rate-setting session.

The Dow rose 17 points to 10,642, its highest close since mid-January.

The S&P rose a-half point to 1,151. And the Nasdaq fell 5 points to 2,362.

Asian stocks mixed ahead of Fed statement

HONG KONG (AP) -- Asian stock markets were mixed today as investors held back ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest assessment of the world's largest economy.

It marked the region's third consecutive day of mediocre trade.

The U.S. central bank wraps up its policy meeting later today. Widely expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged at near zero, the Fed will also deliver a policy statement that investors will pore over for clues about the economic recovery and its plans for interest rates.

In Asia, the Bank of Japan was also in focus.

The central bank is expected to maintain its benchmark interest rate at 0.1 percent Wednesday, though there's growing speculation it will ease policy in other ways.

Crude extends slippage

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices extended losses below $80 a barrel today in Asia as investors eyed meetings of the U.S. central bank and OPEC for trading catalysts.

Oil prices have ricocheted between $70 and $80 for most of the last nine months as crude demand recovered from last year's global recession but remains weak in developed countries.

One analyst says there's a shift from bullish to a more bearish posture.

The oil ministers of Iran and Venezuela, countries that usually support output cuts to boost prices, have signaled recently they don't expect the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to change production quotas when it meets today in Vienna.

Fed seen keeping rates steady

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Economists look for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady at their policy-setting meeting today.

There's a bigger question whether central bankers may signal when and how they will begin boosting rates in the future.

At issue, is whether the Fed will decide whether to retain its pledge to keep rates at "exceptionally low" levels for an "extended period." Economists generally think "extended period" means at least six more months.

The Fed's statement also will be looked at closely for anything regarding a program that has lowered mortgage interest rates. It is scheduled to end mortgage-securities purchases from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the end of this month.

Report due on housing starts

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Commerce Department today releases figures on February housing starts. Analysts are looking for a decline in the gauge of new home construction as well as a drop in the companion figure on building permits.

A report released yesterday on builder sentiment also doesn't bode well for the industry. The National Association of Home Builders said its index, tracking industry confidence, fell by two points this month to 15. That puts it back to the level last seen in January. Sentiment was being weighed down by bad winter weather and deeply discounted foreclosures, proving to be tough competition for new homes.

Toyota casts doubt on Prius case

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Toyota is casting doubt on a California man's claim that his Prius sped out of control. The automaker says the report is inconsistent with the findings of the company's preliminary investigation.

Toyota said in a statement that the accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system worked properly. Toyota says the front brakes showed severe wear and damage from overheating, but the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition.

James Sikes says his car raced to 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego last week. The March 8 incident ended when Sikes stopped the car with help from a California Highway Patrol officer.

Federal regulators have said they were reviewing data from the gas-electric hybrid but so far had not found anything to explain the out-of-control acceleration reported by Sikes.

Twitter working on Chinese registration page

NEW YORK (AP) -- A Twitter executive says the site is working on a way to allow Chinese users to sign up in their own language, though the Web site remains blocked there.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey said at a panel Monday that his company is "hard at work" on allowing users to register in Mandarin. Dorsey was responding to a question from Chinese avant garde artist Ai Weiwei .

The artist has been an outspoken critic of Chinese authorities and their censorship.

Dorsey, Ai and Richard MacManus, founder of technology blog ReadWriteWeb, were part of a discussion on digital activism at the Paley Center for Media.

The conversation came days after it was reported that Google is likely to close its search engine in China after negotiations over censorship stalled.

Calif. pension fund seeks to boost its influence

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The board of the nation'as largest pension fund has voted to remove the limit on the number of shareholder proposals it can issue to companies in its portfolio.

Lifting the number of proposals its board can file each year means the California fund's influence is likely to grow among publicly traded companies.

CalPERS holds about $200 billion in investments. In the past, its board has pressured companies to make changes to executive compensation and to increase what it considers to be socially responsible investing.

Until Monday's vote, the CalPERS board was limited each year to 20 proposals related to executive compensation and 10 related to corporate governance.

Republicans: don't rush financial bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee says it's unrealistic to think the committee can debate and vote on a financial overhaul bill in one week.

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby says forcing the banking committee to rush its work on the bill "undercuts the potential for bipartisan agreement."

Committee Chairman Chris Dodd unveiled the bill today. Dodd wants debate to begin next Monday with work wrapped up within the week.

The bill would give the government new powers to break up firms that threaten the economy, force the industry to pay for its failures and create an independent consumer watchdog within the Federal Reserve. It falls short of the sweeping changes President Barack Obama wanted.

Financial reform efforts pit US against Europe

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. policymakers aren't alone in their struggle to come up with new rules designed to avoid another financial crisis. Efforts are raging on three continents to do the same.

Experts are warning that the U.S., Europe and Asia must adopt uniformly strict regulations. Otherwise banks and high-risk traders will shift operations wherever rules are loosest.

Kenneth Rogoff is the former chief economist of the International Monetary fund and is currently a professor at Harvard University. He says the collapse of the venerable brokerage house Lehman Brothers in 2008 underscores the enormous need to tighten international rules. Yet Rogoff said he doubts countries can agree.

Some 18 months after the collapse that triggered the Great Recession, no deal on stricter rules is in sight -- domestically or globally.