BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hope for bailout deal spurs global markets' rebound
Associated Press
TOKYO — Most Asian markets bounced back today on hopes that a $700 billion bailout for the U.S. financial system will soon win legislative approval, although doubts persisted about the long-term outlook for the global economy.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index, the benchmark for Asia's biggest bourse, gained 108.40 points to close at 11,368.26. Yesterday, it plunged 4.1 percent to its lowest in more than three years.
Australian stocks rallied, with the benchmark S&P/ASX-200 index jumping 4.2 percent after sinking 4.3 percent. Markets in Taiwan and India also gained.
Investors took heart from the rebound on Wall Street yesterday amid expectations that lawmakers will save the rescue plan aimed at cleaning up the debt mess at financial institutions.
"The market is already expecting the plan to pass. The question now is what's next," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. in Tokyo.
PLUNGING HOME PRICES SET RECORD
NEW YORK — A closely watched index released yesterday showed home prices tumbling by the sharpest annual rate ever in July, and no turnaround is in sight.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index fell a record 16.3 percent in July from the year-ago month, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 17.5 percent, the biggest decline in its 21-year history.
Prices in the 20-city index have plummeted nearly 20 percent since peaking in July 2006. The 10-city index has fallen more than 21 percent since then.
AIRPORT STRATEGY WON'T FLY: GAO
WASHINGTON — U.S. aviation officials have no legal authority to auction off takeoff and landing slots at airports, a scheme the government devised to try to curb crippling traffic jams at major airports, congressional investigators say.
The letter from the Government Accountability Office comes amid a legal dispute over the Bush administration's plan to trim flight delays by auctioning off slots at New York City-area airports.
The legal opinion is another blow to Bush administration officials who hoped to get their air traffic experiment off the ground before they leave office in four months.
DRUGMAKER WILL REFOCUS ON PROFIT
TRENTON, N.J. — Pfizer Inc. is shifting its research focus to diseases that have high potential for big profits and for treatment improvements, such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
The world's biggest drugmaker also is ending new research on conditions from obesity to heart disease, but research on drugs already in late-stage human testing will continue, spokeswoman Liz Power said.
Experts said such tweaking of research strategy is needed periodically as new competition and other factors affect revenue.
