FINANCIAL FALLOUT GAS PRICES RISING IN CLIMATE OF FEAR.California's gasoline wholesalers raised prices by as much as 20 cents a gallon on supply fears following Tuesday's attacks, although traders said there was no evidence of a shortage. Jeffrey Spring of the Automobile Club of Southern California The Automobile Club of Southern California was founded December 13, 1900 in Los Angeles as one of the nation's first motor clubs dedicated to improving roads, proposing traffic laws and improvement of overall driving conditions. said they had seen no signs Tuesday of dealers hiking prices. Exxon Mobil and BP, the parent of Arco stations, sought to calm energy markets. The companies said supplies would not be hampered - except around New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . The companies tried to reassure consumers that there was no need to stockpile gasoline. - Daily News Fed plans action to guard economy WASHINGTON - Concerned that the terrorist attacks could ignite economic and financial problems in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and around the world, the government scrambled Tuesday to reassure markets and keep a global slowdown from becoming something worse. Within hours of the attacks in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and Washington, the Federal Reserve issued a statement saying it was operating normally and was making credit available to any banks that might need it. There was immediate speculation that the Fed would move soon, perhaps within days, to cut interest rates, as it has in the past when the markets and the economy have faced an acute crisis. The Fed has already cut rates seven times this year to bolster the slumping economy. Banks reported no major problems during the day. - The New York Times Package delivery times uncertain Parcel and mail delivery have been thrown into chaos by a nationwide shutdown of air transportation. The Postal Service postal service, arrangements made by a government for the transmission of letters, packages, and periodicals, and for related services. Early courier systems for government use were organized in the Persian Empire under Cyrus, in the Roman Empire, and in medieval and major freight carriers scrambled Tuesday to accommodate customers. FedEx, UPS and Airborne Express Airborne Express (IATA: n/a, ICAO: ABX, and Callsign: Abex) was an express delivery company and cargo airline. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, its hub was at Wilmington, Ohio. continued to accept overnight packages, but suspended all delivery time guarantees. In all cases, delivery of express packages will be delayed up to 48 hours. ``It's too early to speculate when service may return to normal levels,'' said FedEx spokesman Steve Barber. Postal Service delivery will continue as normal today, again with the exception of express packages. - Daily News Asian markets fall on fear for future HONG KONG - Share prices in Asia plummeted today on fears the terrorist attacks in the United States could deal a severe blow to the ailing U.S. and Japanese economies. In Japan, Asia's largest market, the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average Nikkei stock average Applies mainly to international equities. Price-weighted average of 225 stocks of the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange started on May 16, 1949. Japanese equivalent of the US Dow. plunged beneath the key 10,000-point mark for the first time in 17 years as traders dumped shares. The Nikkei slipped 6.66 percent before recovering slightly. It ended morning trading today down 519.24 points, or 5.04 percent, at 9,773.71. Hong Kong's blue chip Hang Seng index Hang Seng index The major index in Hong Kong. Hang Seng Index A market-weighted index of 33 stocks making up approximately 70% of the market value of all stocks traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. plunged 10.3 percent from Tuesday's close to its lowest level since late February 1999. By midmorning mid·morn·ing n. The middle of the morning. , it had regained some ground, shedding 836.67 points or 8 percent to 9,580.69. On Tuesday, Hong Kong stocks had closed slightly higher at 10,417.36, snapping a four-day losing streak. Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index The Straits Times Index (STI) is a market value-weighted stock market index based on the stocks of 50 representative companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. Launched in the wake of a major sectoral re-classification of listed companies by the Singapore Exchange, which today plummeted 136.64 points, or 8.7 percent, to 1,430.12 just after opening. In South Korea, the stock exchange delayed its opening by three hours, though foreign exchange and bond markets opened as usual. The Korean Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, was down 9.3 percent shortly after opening. The Kospi fell 1.8 percent, or 10.16 points, to 540.57 on Tuesday. - Associated Press |
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