BUSINESS BRIEFS
Mortgage rates drop for third week in a row
Advertiser Staff and News Services
WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates dropped for a third straight week, reflecting the impact the weakening economy is having on financial markets.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giant, reported yesterday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent this week, down from 6.14 percent last week. It marked a sharp decline since rates hit a recent high of 6.46 percent during the week of Oct. 16.
Concerns about the economy and worries over the fate of Detroit's three automakers caused have caused Wall Street's major stock indexes to hit levels not seen since 2003.
CITIGROUP SINKS BELOW $5 A SHARE
NEW YORK — Citigroup Inc. shares tumbled below $5 a share yesterday to their lowest level in more than 15 years, a sign that a Saudi prince's decision to boost his stake in the bank has failed to galvanize confidence among increasingly anxious investors.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a longtime investor in Citigroup, said he plans to increase his stake in the bank to 5 percent from less than 4 percent.
The roughly $350 million investment was viewed as relatively insignificant when compared with the more than $20 billion in losses Citigroup has racked up over the past four quarters.
OIL BOUNCES BACK FROM 3-YEAR LOW
SINGAPORE— Oil prices fell to a 3-year low below $49 a barrel today in Asia before bouncing back to close at $50.03. Asian markets also surged ahead in contrast to Wall Street's continuing plunge.
Major regional benchmarks opened lower after Wall Street touched multiyear lows over-night but climbed into positive territory by the close of trading.
But with signs of recession spreading around the globe, the outlook remains grim, analysts said.
"After tanking for so many days there will always be a belief that you just can't draw a straight line down. There may be a day or a day and a half of respite," said Song Seng Wun, head of research at CIMB Securities in Singapore.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 207.75 points, or 2.7 percent, to 7,910.79 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 465 points, or 3.8 percent, to 12,763.81.
T-BILL YIELDS FALL; JUNK BONDS SOAR
NEW YORK — Investors flooded into government debt again yesterday, sending Treasury yields to multiyear lows as ongoing worries about an auto industry collapse impede the credit markets' attempts at a recovery.
Meanwhile, rates on junk bonds keep soaring — a bad sign for speculative-grade companies that need to tap the markets for funding.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sank to 3.22 percent — the lowest level since June 2003.
The 30-year bond's yield fell to 3.79 percent — the lowest since the government started issuing the bond in 1977. And the 2-year note's yield sank to 1.01 percent — the lowest since 1946, according to Global Financial Data in Los Angeles.
