GE locomotive unit plans $131 mln new investments
Oct 18 (Reuters) - General Electric Co’s railroad
locomotive unit unveiled plans on Tuesday to invest $131
million in Pennsylvania and Texas to allow it to build more
locomotives as well as equipment used in mining vehicles, the
largest U.S. conglomerate said on Tuesday.The business unit, which has seen revenue soar some 45
percent through the first half of 2011, plans to hire about 360
people in Erie, Pennsylvania, some 200 of whom will replace
workers that took early retirement offers.These investments are in addition to GE’s disclosure last
month that it would invest about $200 million in plants in Fort
Worth, Texas, and Erie.GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt is a top adviser to U.S.
President Barack Obama on jobs and the economy.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks dip on China fears, warning to France
* China growth data, French rating threat weigh* Government bonds, dollar riseBy Caroline ValetkevitchNEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - World stocks slipped on
Tuesday and government bonds rose as slower-than-expected
Chinese growth and a warning to France about keeping its top
credit rating turned investors cautious.The warning from ratings agency Moody’s compounded investor
jitters after comments this week by Germany’s finance minister,
who said he saw no definitive solution on the euro zone debt
crisis right away.The MSCI world equity index was down 0.6
percent, paring earlier losses as U.S. stocks turned modestly
higher. The world index is still up roughly 11 percent from a
15-month low earlier this month.U.S. stocks’ gains were led by the financial sector
after major banks reported quarterly results, including Bank of
America . The second-largest U.S. bank by assets rose
6.8 percent to $6.44, while shares of Goldman Sachs were
up 2 percent at $98.90 even after it posted a
wider-than-expected quarterly loss.The Dow Jones industrial average was up 21.19
points, or 0.19 percent, at 11,418.19. The Standard & Poor’s
500 Index was up 5.21 points, or 0.43 percent, at
1,206.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.75
points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,618.67.European stocks dipped 0.2 percent while emerging
stocks lost 2.3 percent.”Risk aversion came back because everybody is focused on
Europe,” said Suvrat Prakash, interest rate strategist at BNP
Paribas in New York.
“It seems that people are not counting on the European Union
summit,” for a solution on the euro zone’s fiscal problems.Moody’s cautioned it may slap a negative outlook on
France’s Aaa credit rating in the next three months if costs
from helping to bail out banks and other euro zone members
stretch its budget too thin.Optimism over a key European Union summit on Oct. 23 waned
after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday
that even though European governments would adopt a five-point
platform to address the crisis, a definitive solution would not
be reached at the summit.In Asia, China’s gross domestic product growth eased to 9.1
percent in July-September at an annual rate, slightly below
forecasts of 9.2 percent, indicating the world’s second-largest
economy expanded at its slowest pace since the second quarter
of 2009.U.S. Treasuries edged higher, pushing benchmark yields to
their lowest in two weeks.Benchmark 10-year Treasury prices rose 13/32 in
price to yield 2.11 percent compared with 2.18 percent late on
Monday. Yields fell as low as 2.08 percent, their lowest since
Oct 7.The French/German 10-year government bond yield spread widened to a euro era record of 101 basis points.
French debt also underperformed its triple-A rated peer the
Netherlands.Brent crude oil prices were lower, while the dollar gained 0.4 percent against a basket of major currencies.
The euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.3701.After the U.S. stock market’s close on Tuesday, Apple was due to report results. Its shares were down 0.1
percent at $419.40.
