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WALL STREET
Higher interest rates talk spooks stocks
NEW YORK (AP) — Higher interest rates are coming. And they're coming sooner than you think.
That's the message investors took away from the Federal Reserve yesterday. In response, they sent stocks and gold prices lower and bond yields sharply higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 114 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,222.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 11 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,860, and the Nasdaq composite lost nearly 26 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,307.
The Fed has voted to cut its monthly bond purchases from $65 billion to $55 billion. The central bank says the economy has recovered enough for it to continue reducing the bond buys, which are aimed at keeping long-term interest rates low.
The Federal Reserve also says the vast majority of its policymakers believe it would be appropriate to raise short-term interest rates starting in 2015. The Federal Funds rate, traditionally the Fed's main tool for regulating the health of the economy, has been near zero since 2008.
WORLD MARKETS
Asian stocks fall on Fed interest-rate message
TOKYO (AP) — Asian stocks inched down today after comments from the new head of the Federal Reserve suggested U.S. interest rates could rise sooner than financial markets were anticipating.
Janet Yellen's comments after the Fed's first policy meeting since she replaced Ben Bernanke sent Wall Street lower and the dollar higher yesterday.
At a press conference, Yellen implied that the Fed's time frame for raising interest rates was closer to the first half of 2015, sooner than many had expected. The Fed also voted to cut its monthly bond purchases from $65 billion to $55 billion as part of its ongoing winding down of the extraordinary monetary stimulus.
The next market-moving factor players are watching in Japan is a consumption tax hike effective April 1.
Benchmark crude oil rose to $100.50 a barrel. in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 67 cents to $100.37 on Wednesday. Most trading has shifted to the May contract as the April contract expires Thursday. Oil for May delivery was up 20 cents to $99.37 a barrel.
The dollar gained against the yen and fell against the euro.
ECONOMY-THE DAY AHEAD
Major business and economic events scheduled for Thursday:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government will release the important weekly jobless claims number today.
Also today, the National Association of Realtors will issue its report on existing home sales for February and the Conference Board will release February's leading economic indicators. Freddie Mac will release weekly mortgage rates as well.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting today with that country's wealthiest businessmen, who have reason to be worried about the economic fallout from the takeover of Crimea and the sanctions imposed by the West. Forecasts for Russia's economy have dropped sharply and capital flight is soaring as investors pull their money out of the country.
After the market closes, Nike will report its quarterly financial results.
TANGO-ALIBABA INVESTMENT
Alibaba investment gives Tango a reason to dance
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tango is joining the conga line of mobile messaging services that have turned into hot commodities as more people use them to communicate and share photos, music and other content.
China's Alibaba Group is making the latest big bet on the trend with a $215 million investment in Tango and its 200 million registered users.
Another group of investors that includes Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang is anteing an additional $65 million to raise the total funding round to $280 million.
Alibaba is buying into Tango's future just a month after online social networking leader Facebook Inc. announced plans to acquire mobile messaging service WhatsApp for $19 billion. Another mobile messaging specialist, Viber Media, sold for $900 million last month to Japan's Rakuten Inc.
GREECE-FINANCIAL CRISIS
Rescue lenders: Greece 'beginning to stabilize'
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's rescue creditors say the country's economy is 'beginning to stabilize,' after reaching a key agreement Tuesday to resume bailout loan payments.
In a joint statement, the European Union, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund says Greece was "poised for a gradual resumption of growth" after a six-year recession, with the government committed to making further sweeping market reforms.
It also urges the "swift recapitalization" remaining for Greek banks.
The latest round of negotiations between the Greek government and international debt inspectors lasted seven months, with politicians in Athens under mounting pressure because of a 27.5 percent unemployment rate and unions that are fiercely resisting ongoing austerity measures.
Civil servants launched a 48-hour strike Wednesday, with teaching staff and public hospital workers joining the protest.
CANADA-PORT STRIKE
British Columbia government to end port strike
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — British Columbia's government is preparing back-to-work legislation to force an end to a strike by container truck drivers at the Port of Vancouver, Canada's biggest port.
The provincial government said in a statement Wednesday that legislation is necessary to protect the economy in British Columbia and around Canada.
The release says that despite a joint 14-point offer made to truckers seven days ago, a strike by drivers has continued.
Federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt says the disruption at Canada's largest port is having a severe effect on the economy and that she encourages truckers to go back to work.
Better pay and standardized rates that would prevent drivers from undercutting each other are among the issues driving the stalemate.
GULF OIL LEASE SALE
BP: 24 top bids for $41.6M in Gulf oil lease sale
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — High bids from Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC made up more than one-third of the $850.8 million total at Wednesday's federal oil lease sale for the central Gulf of Mexico. It also was the first sale since the government said BP PLC can again secure federal contracts; the company made $41.6 million in high bids.
Freeport-McMoRan's 16 high bids totaled $321.4 million, including the day's biggest — $68.8 million — and six of the 10 highest, according to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The second-highest bidder both for total and single bids was Chevron USA Inc., at $103.3 million and $62.4 million.
BP's suspension was lifted Friday and BP bid a total of $53.8 million on 31 tracts Wednesday, with high bids on 24.
The Interior Department said 50 companies bid on 326 blocks in the central gulf.
PRESCRIPTION DRUG LAWSUIT
Hawaii attorney general sues drug manufacturer
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii's attorney general is suing the makers of a widely prescribed blood thinner that he says a significant portion of the state's population has difficulty metabolizing.
Attorney General David Louie filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the manufacturers and distributors of Plavix, marketed to work similarly to aspirin to prevent a stroke or heart attack.
Louie says the drugmaker didn't disclose that Plavix would have diminished or no effect on people of East Asian and Pacific Islander ancestry. He says the drug puts them at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding and other complications.
The suit names Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis as defendants. Representatives for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sanofi last year said the U.S. Justice Department was investigating its disclosures to the Food and Drug Administration about different responses to Plavix. It provided no details but said it was cooperating with the probe.
TELEPHONE SURVEILLANCE LAWSUIT
Judge extends order blocking data destruction
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco has extended his nationwide order blocking the National Security Agency from destroying telephone surveillance records.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White issued a restraining order on March 10 to prevent the National Security Agency from destroying phone records that it had collected more than five years ago.
White, who is overseeing an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against the agency, prolonged that order yesterday, ruling the records were needed to decide the case.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the 23 organizations who are plaintiffs in the suit include churches, marijuana advocates and gun owners.
Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said the records could be destroyed if the government would confirm that the plaintiffs' phone data was collected, but the Justice Department's lawyer, James Gilligan, said that information should remain secret.
GAME DEVELOPERS CHOICE
'Last of Us' wins big at Game Developers Awards
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — "The Last of Us" won the top honor at the Game Developers Choice Awards.
The gripping post-apocalyptic survival saga created by developer Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3 picked up the game of the year trophy Wednesday at the 14th annual ceremony honoring the best video games released over the past year. "The Last of Us" also won the awards for best design and narrative.
Irrational Games' slick sky-high shooter "BioShock Infinite" landed the awards for best audio and visual art, while Lucas Pope's quirky immigration agent simulator "Papers, Please" captured the innovation award and best downloadable game prize.
Other winners at the Moscone Center ceremony included Rockstar Games' heist romp "Grand Theft Auto V" for best technology and The Fullbright Company's coming-of-age story "Gone Home" for best debut.
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