Nov. 17, 2010 (United Press International) -- U.S. markets flat Wednesday NEW YORK, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed mixed Wednesday after the Department of Labor Statistics said consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in October.
The index came in below the consensus forecast of a 0.3 percent rise. A month ago, the index rose 0.1 percent. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, were flat, the department said.
Wall Street investors also reacted to Tuesday's selloff and to concerns over a European Union bailout for Ireland. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 178.47 points, or 1.59 percent Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 19.41 points, or 1.62 percent.
Although not a part of the eurozone, Britain said Wednesday it would come to Ireland's aid. Ireland is struggling to find a formula to rescue its banks without having to ask for international assistance, but European Union finance ministers continued to negotiate a package to shore up investor confidence.
Most markets in Asia closed lower Wednesday. European markets closed higher.
By close of trading on Wall Street, the DJIA lost 15.62 points, 0.14 percent, to 11,007.88. The S&P 500 gained 0.25 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,178.59. The Nasdaq composite index tacked on 6.17 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,476.01.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,807 stocks advanced and 1,182 declined on a volume of 3.7 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 11/32 to yield 2.88 percent.
The euro rose to $1.353 from Tuesday's $1.3489. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 83.15 yen from Tuesday's 83.30 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.15 percent, 14.56, to 9,811.66.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index added 0.19 percent, 10.66, to 5,692.56.
GOP reps press to change Fed mandate WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he would press to have the U.S. Federal Reserve change its mission to focus only on inflation.
Set out in the 1978 Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, the Fed's current mandate is to set policy to influence inflation and employment.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Corker and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., were backing legislation, which Pence would introduce, that would cut employment concerns out of the Fed's agenda.
In a statement, Corker said he had met with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in a private session. "At this meeting, Corker probed Chairman Bernanke on recent actions by the Fed. As a result of lengthy research and discussions, Corker believes now is the time to direct the mandate of the Fed to focus only on price stability," the senator's office said in a statement.
Some Republicans have been critical of the Fed's recent decision to buy $600 billion in long-term treasury bonds, which would dilute the value of the dollar. There are fears the policy could promote unwanted inflation at a time of high unemployment.
The Post quoted House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., as saying the effort would amount to a "very dumb fight."
"The notion that the Fed should be indifferent to unemployment is a terrible idea, damaging to the economy," Frank said.
Fed orders second round of stress tests WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would put 19 large U.S. banks through a second round of stress tests.
The banks were told to submit financial plans early next year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In early 2009, the Fed subjected 19 banks that had received billions of dollars from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to tests designed to assess their ability to remain solvent under adverse conditions. The banks included Bank of American Corp., Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) , US Bancorp, American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) , Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) , JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) & Chase Co., Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) , Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) , Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) , BB&T (NYSE:BBT) , Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) , GMAC, KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) , PNC Financial, Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) , MetLife (NYSE:MET PRA) (NYSE:MET PRB) (NYSE:MEU) (NYSE:MLG) (NYSE:MET) , State Street, Bank of New York and SunTrust Banks. (NYSE:STI)
The tests were designed to show how the banks would hold up against rising unemployment, a deterioration in the housing market and other variables.
The results found the banks, collectively, required $74.6 billion in additional capital. The orders for each bank ranged from zero -- several banks having passed the tests -- to $33 billion, which the Fed told Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) it required as a cushion against possible economic downturns.
Engineer pleads guilty in Ford theft AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A Chinese engineer accused of stealing information from Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) pleaded guilty to intellectual property theft in federal court Wednesday.
Xiang Dong Yu worked for Ford for 10 years as a product engineer. He returned to China in December 2006, then e-mailed the company he was resigning his position, The Detroit News reported Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Yu took about 4,000 pages of Ford documents with him, which he sold in China. After leaving Ford, he took a job with the Beijing Automotive Co., the newspaper said.
He was arrested upon his return to the United States in 2009.
The FBI said 41 Ford documents were discovered on his laptop computer.
Yu, who will be sentenced in February, faces up to 78 months in prison, a fine of $150,000 and, following his prison term, deportation.
