NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising in early Wall Street trading on word of a drop in jobless claims and some positive earnings news. Stocks in Europe stabilized after the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept their main interest rates at record low levels.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department says fewer people signed up for unemployment benefits last week. Weekly applications for unemployment aid fell 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 289,000, while the prior week’s was revised up slightly to 303,000. The less volatile four-week average fell 4,000 to 293,500. That’s the lowest average since February 2006, almost two years before the recession began.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average mortgage rates have risen slightly this week but remain near their lows for the year. Mortgage company Freddie Mac says the nationwide average for a 30-year loan increased to 4.14 percent from 4.12 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, rose to 3.27 percent from 3.23 percent last week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fannie Mae is reporting net income of $3.7 billion from April through June. The government-controlled mortgage giant posted its 10th straight profitable quarter and said it will pay a dividend of $3.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury next month. Fannie Mae’s smaller sibling Freddie Mac reported net income of $1.4 billion, its 11th straight profitable quarter, and said it will pay a dividend of $1.9 billion to the U.S. Treasury next month. Both Fannie and Freddie have more than fully repaid their taxpayer bailouts.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank says the crisis in Ukraine could weigh on the fragile economic recovery in the 18-country eurozone. Mario Draghi (DRAHG’-ee) says the fallout from Ukraine is “hard to assess” but that sanctions and countersanctions could increase the impact. He says the central bank will monitor it closely.
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