IN BRIEF
NEW YORK
Oil prices increase on production news
Oil prices rose Monday on disappointment over Saudi Arabia's modest production increase and concerns that output from Nigeria will decline.
Retail gasoline prices, meanwhile, inched lower overnight, but appear unlikely to change much as long as oil prices stay in a trading range.
Saudi Arabia said Sunday at a meeting of oil-producing and consuming nations that it would turn out more crude oil this year if the market needs it. The kingdom said it would add 200,000 barrels per day in July to a 300,000-barrel-per-day production increase it first announced in May, raising daily output to 9.7 million barrels.
But that pledge at the meeting held in the Saudi city of Jeddah fell far short of U.S. hopes for a larger increase. The United States and other nations argue that oil production has not kept up with increasing demand, especially from China, India and the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries say there is no shortage of oil and instead blame financial speculation and the falling U.S. dollar.
CHICAGO
Walgreen reports profits rise 2 percent
Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. said Monday its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 2 percent as it focused on cost control and maintained a rapid expansion pace in a difficult retail environment.
Despite the modest gain, the results fell slightly short of Wall Street's expectations and Walgreen shares slipped back after initially climbing nearly 3 percent.
Overall, however, analysts said the Deerfield, Ill.-based company's cost discipline and continued advances in a weak economy shows it has turned a corner after recent sluggishness.
Shares fell 37 cents to $34.70 Monday.
Earnings for the three months ended May 31 were $572.3 million, or 58 cents per share, up from $561.2 million, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier. That was a penny shy of the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
NEW YORK
Citigroup halfway through job cuts
Citigroup is about halfway through cutting 10 percent of the 65,000 employees in its investment banking unit, a person familiar with the job cuts said Monday.
The unit, as previously reported, plans to lay off about 6,500 workers in the division, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the job cuts are still under way.
"More than half of those have already been eliminated," the person told The Associated Press.
A major portion of the remaining job cuts are happening this week, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
DETROIT
GM to raise prices on models for 2009
General Motors Corp. told dealers Monday it plans to raise prices on 2009 models by an average of 3.5 percent despite a tough market that is forcing the automaker to cut production and discount its 2008 models.
Company officials said in conference calls to dealers that the increases will allow GM to recover only part of the rising cost of steel and other commodities and the cost of safety and other features on the new models. The increases will amount to about $1,000 per vehicle.
GM already had increased the prices of its 2008 model year vehicles twice because of rising commodity costs, spokesman John McDonald said. The move comes a little more than a week after Chrysler LLC announced a 2 percent increase in the price of its remaining 2008 vehicles.
GM also said Monday it will run a sale June 24-30 to help clear out high inventories of 2008 pickups, sport utility vehicles and larger cars. The sale includes zero percent financing for up to 72 months.
CHICAGO
United Airlines plans to trim pilots
United Airlines says it will eliminate about 950 pilot jobs beginning this summer as part of a plan to cut 1,600 salaried positions and reduce its fleet.
United told its pilots union about the cuts Monday. The Chicago-based carrier says it's still working with the unions on the reductions.
Messages left for the Air Line Pilots Association were not returned.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy says the initial furlough notices will go out in mid-July and take effect in September. She says the cuts will continue into next year.
WASHINGTON
Interest rates fall on Treasury bills
Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction to the lowest levels in two weeks.
The Treasury Department auctioned $22 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.855 percent, down from 2.050 percent last week; and $23 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 2.255 percent, down from 2.350 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 1.850 percent on June 9. The six-month rate was the lowest since 2.050 percent, also on June 9.
NEW YORK
Treasury prices little changed
Treasury prices were little changed Monday as investors positioned themselves ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.
The Fed is scheduled to meet today and Wednesday, and then release its rate decision Wednesday afternoon. Most market participants do not expect policymakers to alter interest rates this week, but many believe the Fed could start raising rates as soon as September, as several central bank officials have recently focused their comments on the growing threat of inflation.
The benchmark 10-year note rose 0.15 points to 97.78 points, and its yield fell to 4.16 percent from 4.17 percent late Friday, according to BGCantor Market Data. Yields move in the opposite direction from prices.
The 30-year long bond rose 0.21 points to 94.75 points. Its yield fell to 4.70 percent from 4.73 percent.
