AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Tuesday, August 12, 2008:

Oil falls to $113 in Asia on stronger dollar

SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices fell Tuesday in Asia to a 3-month low as a stronger dollar and weakening crude demand from China weighed on investor sentiment. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.45 to $113 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by late afternoon in Singapore. The contract lost 75 cents overnight to settle at $114.45, the lowest close for a floor session since May 1.

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US stocks head for lower open on financial worries

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks headed for a lower open Tuesday as renewed worries about the financial sector overshadowed another drop in oil prices. Wall Street's latest reminder that deep troubles remain in the financial sector came when JPMorgan Chase & Co. said late Monday it has incurred wider losses in its mortgage holdings so far in the third quarter than it did in the second quarter.

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UBS posts Q2 losses, writedowns of $5.1B

GENEVA (AP) — UBS AG, one of the hardest hit banks in the subprime mortgage crisis, said Tuesday that it had further losses and writedowns of $5.1 billion during the second quarter of 2008. Switzerland's largest bank, which also announced further management changes, said its net loss attributable to shareholders for the three months ended June 30 was 358 Swiss francs ($331 million), compared with a profit of 5.5 billion francs during the year-earlier period.

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China's July inflation eases to 6.3 percent

BEIJING (AP) — China's politically volatile inflation eased in July as sharp rises in food costs slowed, according to data reported Tuesday, giving Beijing more leeway to try to boost slowing economic growth. Consumer prices rose 6.3 percent in July over the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. That was driven by a 14.4 percent rise in foods costs, though that rate was down from 17.3 percent in June. The overall rate, the lowest in nearly a year, was a decline from June's 7.1 percent.

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Most companies in US avoid federal income taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress. The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.

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GM offers more fuel-efficient pickup trucks, SUVs

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. is releasing new, more fuel-efficient versions of its full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles later this fall. The XFE — or extra fuel economy — versions of the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks and Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs will get one mile per gallon more in both city and highway fuel economy than non-XFE versions. The boost will give them a total of 15 miles per gallon in the city and 21 on the highway.

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Japan wholesale prices rise 7.1 percent in July

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's corporate goods prices rose at their fastest pace in more than 27 years, pushed up by surging oil and commodities prices, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday. Higher wholesale costs may mean that the consumer price index will climb even further, as domestic companies pass on their increasing business costs to consumers.

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NY AG expands auction-rate securities probe

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday he is expanding his investigation into the collapse of the auction-rate securities market to include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wachovia Corp. Last week, Cuomo's office and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached settlements that forced Swiss bank UBS to repurchase $18.6 billion in the securities, while Citigroup agreed to buy back $7 billion of the securities. UBS will also pay a fine of $150 million, while Citigroup will pay a $100 million fine.

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JPMorgan Chase: More mortgage market losses for 3Q

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. revealed Monday that it has incurred more substantial losses in its mortgage investments so far in the third quarter than it did in the previous three months. In a regulatory filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank said turbulence in the credit markets has caused it to lose about $1.5 billion, after hedges, in its mortgage-backed securities and loans to date in the July-to-September quarter.

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Wachovia to cut 600 more jobs than earlier planned

NEW YORK (AP) — Wachovia Corp. said Monday it plans to cut 600 more jobs than it previously expected as it works to reduce expenses in the face of staggering losses tied to mortgage debt. According to its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank now expects to eliminate 11,350 positions, including 6,950 active employees and 4,400 open positions. All of the additional job cuts will be in the bank's troubled mortgage business.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) — Gold down in London morning trading; fixed at $808.75 per troy ounce.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) — The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average shed 127.31 points, or 0.95 percent, to 13,303.60 after jumping 1.99 percent on Monday.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) — The dollar, which had fallen to levels around below 100 earlier in the year, was trading at about 110 yen, holding on to recent gains.

A service of The Associated Press. Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

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