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Article published Jul 2, 2009 Oil holds above $69 ahead of U.S. jobs report ... and more
Oil holds above $69 ahead of US jobs report
SINGAPORE — Oil prices lingered above $69 a barrel Thursday in Asia ahead of the release of a key U.S. unemployment figure.
Benchmark crude for August delivery fell 14 cents to $69.17 a barrel by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, it fell 58 cents to settle at $69.31.
A rally from below $35 a barrel in March stalled last month on investor concern that a sluggish global economy may not recover fast enough to justify surging oil prices. Traders will be eyeing the Labor Department’s June unemployment report, due to be released later Thursday, for signs the economy and consumer demand could be improving.
Oil will likely trade between $65 a barrel and $75 in the July-September period, averaging $71 in the third quarter and $76 in the fourth quarter, Barclay Capital said in a report.Stocks advance after mixed data; Jobs report looms
NEW YORK — The stock market’s third quarter began on a positive note Wednesday after some reassuring data on manufacturing and the housing market.
The gains were tempered, though, ahead of Thursday’s June jobs report.
The Labor Department is expected to show another uptick in the unemployment rate to 9.6 percent. Growing unemployment has been keeping investors nervous about consumer spending — a major driver of growth.
After a drop in consumer confidence triggered a stock sell-off Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rebounded Wednesday by 0.7 percent to 8,504.06. Other indexes made moderate advances as well.SEC OKs broader executive pay disclosure rules
WASHINGTON — Executive-pay policies at bailed-out banks would face more scrutiny from shareholders under a proposed rule approved Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The so-called “say-on-pay” rule would require banks taking part in the $700 billion financial bailout to let shareholders vote on executive compensation policies. Though the votes could be nonbinding, the change would complicate an already-thorny question: How much should banks pay executives when their businesses rely on huge government subsidies?
Some of the nation’s largest banks, including Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc., would be affected.
Congress mandated the “say-on-pay” rule for participants in the Troubled Asset Relief Program after hefty bonuses at firms that had received taxpayer dollars provoked public outrage. Some banks, including Bank of America, already have allowed shareholder votes on their compensation policies at recent annual meetings.