Financial life in a big town

The mere discussion of more economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve was enough to send stocks higher Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33 points.

Minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting on Aug. 9 showed that central bank officials discussed a variety of options to bolster the economy, including buying more Treasury bonds. In the end, they decided to keep interest rates low until at least mid-2013.

The news that more aggressive action was being considered gave investors a reason to buy stocks.

“They want to see stimulus and they hope stocks will go higher,” said Joseph Saluzzi, co-head of stock trading at Themis Trading.

The Federal Reserve has purchased Treasury bonds twice in the past as a way to keep long-term interest rates low. The government’s second round of purchases, announced last August, helped to push the Dow up 28 percent through April 29.

Stocks were mixed for much of the day Tuesday after consumer confidence fell to the lowest level since April 2009. Trading volume was also much lighter than usual because many investors are on vacation.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,572 at 3:15 p.m. It had been down as many as 109 points earlier in the day.

Boeing Co. rose 2.3 percent after the aircraft maker said it received approval from its board to build a version of its workhorse 737 jet with a redesigned engine. That should help it compete better with rival Airbus. Caterpillar Inc. rose 2.2 percent, the most of any company in the Dow.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 3 cash till payday.7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,214. The Nasdaq composite index rose 16, or 0.6 percent, to 2,578.

Trading volume, or the number of shares bought and sold, was shaping up to be the lowest this year. About 2.1 billion shares exchanged hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the lowest since Dec. 31, 2010.

Low volume is worrisome because it suggests that few investors are driving the stock market’s gains or losses. That creates the risk for bigger price swings, said Stephen Carl, principal and head of equity trading at The Williams Capital Group. A lack of volume also indicates that some investors don’t believe that stocks are worth buying right now.

Stocks have swung widely in August. The Dow was down as much as 7.4 percent for the year on Aug. 10, but it is now up 0.1 percent. On Monday, the Dow soared 254 points, its fourth-largest gain this year. Insurers rose the most after it became clear the damage from Tropical Storm Irene wasn’t nearly as bad as analysts had feared.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index hit a 2011 low Aug. 8 after the U.S. government’s credit rating was downgraded for the first time. Since then, it has risen 7.7 percent.

Bond prices have been just as volatile. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly fell to a record low below 2 percent on Aug. 18 on weak manufacturing data from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve. On Tuesday, the yield fell to 2.18 percent, down from 2.27 percent late Monday.

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The New York City subway is to resume some services Monday.

The city’s public transit system, the country’s largest, has been down because of the threat of the approaching Hurricane Irene. Subways, trains and buses are slowly coming back on after inspectors look for any damage.

Officials said commuters should expect long lines and long waits.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Many travelers heading to and from the East Coast still face days of delays even as airlines start flying again Monday at major airports that closed for Tropical Storm Irene.

More than 11,000 flights were canceled nationwide over the weekend, and hundreds more will be scrubbed Monday morning, a flight-tracking service said.

There’s no easy way to squeeze all those displaced passengers onto scheduled flights, especially if airports around New York _ the nation’s busiest airspace _ encounter delays reopening Monday. And ground transport alternatives remain limited, with bus and train service disrupted into Monday as well along the East Coast.

Airlines won’t say how many passengers have been grounded since Irene came ashore in North Carolina on Saturday.

FlightAware, which tracks cancelations, put the total around 650,000, noting that many of the 11,800-plus flights canceled so far were on regional airlines that use small planes. Some travel experts suggested much larger numbers _ 1 million or more.

Finding open seats will be especially difficult this week because it’s the last gasp of the summer vacation season.

“We’re coming into the Labor Day holiday weekend, so a lot of those flights are already full,” said Todd Lehmacher, a spokesman for US Airways.

Airlines resumed flights Sunday at airports around Washington, Philadelphia and Richmond, Va. But the longer closure of the New York area’s Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark, N.J., airports means travel delays will continue rippling across the country.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three airports, said late Sunday that Kennedy and Newark would open to arriving flights at 6 a.m. Monday, with departures beginning at noon. LaGuardia was to reopen at 7 a.m.

New York City officials said they weren’t sure Sunday evening when mass transit would be fully restored after shutting down Saturday, though some local bus service has resumed. The subways remained closed, and downed trees and high water still covered commuter train tracks across the region. Airline officials said those disruptions would affect their ability to get back into gear.

“It’s really dependent upon mass transit and the airport being ready to support the start-up,” JetBlue CEO Dave Barger told NBC.

Long-distance bus and train companies also saw lingering effects from Irene, which was downgraded early Sunday from a hurricane to a tropical storm as high winds ebbed.

Greyhound scrubbed bus travel between Richmond, Va., and Boston all weekend. A spokeswoman said buses would begin to roll north out of Richmond Monday morning and the company hoped to be running in New York by midday.

Amtrak said trains from New York to Florida will be canceled Monday, as will the car train between Lorton, Va., and Sanford, Fla. Some lines in North Carolina and Florida will be open.

Amtrak said in a statement Sunday evening that many routes south of Philadelphia will resume operation, while it canceled many trains between New York and points north. The railroad said separately that its inspections are revealing problems with wiring and signals, as well as trees blocking the tracks. Passengers with paid tickets on canceled trains can rebook or receive refunds by calling 800-872-7245 or visiting Amtrak.com.

But United, Continental, Delta, American, JetBlue, Southwest, AirTran and US Airways canceled hundreds of Monday-morning flights to the New York and Boston area.

Airlines said passengers should call ahead and make sure they have a confirmed seat before going to the airport, but the 670 flights that FlightAware said airlines had canceled for Monday is a small share of the nation’s daily flights.

Airlines also moved several hundred planes out of the storm’s path to avoid damage, which will further slow the return to normal service.

When blizzards hit the East Coast in December and February, it took some passengers days to get home. That could happen again.

Sara Hesselsweet of Norwalk, Conn., and her family were to fly home Sunday from vacation at Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border. After their flight was canceled, American Airlines told her it couldn’t find seats for her, her husband and 2-year-old son until next Saturday.

So the family decided to fly from Reno, Nev., to Dallas and on to Chicago, where they would rent a car to drive back to Connecticut.

“We checked Philadelphia, D.C., Boston, the Carolinas _ we couldn’t get a flight anywhere,” said Hesselsweet, sitting amid a pile of carry-on bags in the Reno airport.

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In the stunning case of controversial timber company Sino-Forest, Friday was perhaps the most stunning day of all.

The Ontario Securities Commission cracked down on the company, halting trading in its shares and demanding the resignation of several top executives. Just hours later the OSC rescinded the resignation order because it apparently overstepped the regulator

European stocks held on to small gains Wednesday, shrugging off a credit downgrade of Japan that weighed on Asian markets, as investors hoped that the Federal Reserve will this week announce more stimulus for the U.S. economy.

Markets are expected to fluctuate ahead of Friday’s speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at an economics conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Hopes that Bernanke will signal new action to kick start the struggling U.S. economy helped lift most major markets Monday and Tuesday, in spite of disappointing indicators on both sides of the Atlantic, and appeared to persevere in morning trading in Europe.

Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 5,148. Germany’s DAX was 1.1 percent higher at 5,590 and France’s CAC-40 rose 1 percent to 3,114.

Wall Street, however, appeared to be headed lower, after recording big gains Tuesday. Dow Jones industrial futures and S&P 500 futures were down 0.8 percent at 11,075 and 1,152 respectively.

That followed losses on most major Asian markets, as well as declining oil prices, underlining investors’ reluctance to commit to assets that could quickly lose value if the global economy heads for another downturn.

“If Bernanke does not pull a rabbit out of the hat at Jackson Hole on Friday risk trades could look vulnerable once again,” warned analysts at Credit Agricole.

Fresh data out of the eurozone indicated that businesses are already preparing for potential troubles.

Germany’s closely watched Ifo index of business optimism for fell more than expected in another negative signal about Europe’s largest economy. The index fell to 108.7 for August from 112.9 in July. Market analysts had expected a smaller drop to 111.0.

“August’s drop in Ifo business confidence adds to the growing evidence that the German economic recovery has faltered,” analysts at Capital Economics wrote in a note, adding that a slowdown for the eurozone’s growth engine is set to hurt other members of the currency union that are still fighting to pull themselves out of crisis no fax payday loans.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.1 percent to close at 8,639.61 after opening higher early Wednesday.

Sentiment was dented after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Japan’s credit rating to Aa3 from Aa2, citing weak growth prospects for the world’s No. 3 economy, massive government debt and constant political uncertainty. The new rating is three notches below Moody’s top Aaa rating.

The downgrade, which puts Moody’s rating in line with other major credit rating agencies, is the latest blow for Japan after its economy remained mired in recession in the second quarter due to tumbling factory production and exports following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.2 percent to 1,754.78. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 2.1 percent to 19,466.79.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent to 4,167.60 after spending much of the session in positive territory. Markets in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia also fell.

Mainland Chinese shares were mixed with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.5 percent to 2,541.09 while the Shenzhen Composite Index edged 0.1 percent higher to 1,144.74.

In commodities markets, benchmark oil for October delivery was down 16 cents to $85.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for October delivery fell 27 cents to $109.04 on the ICE Futures exchange.

The euro rose, meanwhile, to $1.444 from $1.442 in late trading Tuesday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.54 yen from 76.66 yen.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this story.

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Japan’s government has unveiled a $100 billion loans program to ease the strains of a strong yen and encourage companies to turn adversity into opportunity.

The one-year facility announced Wednesday by the finance ministry aims to prompt Japanese companies to shift their yen holdings into foreign currencies and spur overseas mergers and acquisitions.

A strong yen erodes the value of exporters’ profits abroad but it also makes potential acquisitions outside of Japan less expensive.

Through the program, the government will send foreign currency reserves to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The state-operated bank would then extend loans to commercial banks so they can help companies with overseas investments and secure natural resources.

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Officials say a strong earthquake has hit near Japan’s eastern coast, but there is no danger of a tsunami.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency says the quake struck Monday evening and registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.0. It was centered off the coast of Ibaraki, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) east of Tokyo, at a depth of 20 miles (30 kilometers).

The agency says there is no danger of a tsunami. No injuries or damage have been reported.

Some 20,000 people died or were left missing across Japan’s northeastern coast after a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11. The disaster damaged a nuclear power plant, forcing another 100,000 people to leave their homes because of a radiation threat.

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Tropical Storm Harvey has made landfall over Belize and is expected to move into northern Guatemala later in the day.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday that Harvey was centered about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Belize City, moving west at about 13 mph (21 kph). Maximum sustained winds were 60 mph (97 kph).

Harvey is expected to start weakening now that it’s moving over land. The storm is expected to bring as much as 6 inches of rain to parts of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Forecasters say flash floods and mudslides are possible.

Tropical storm warnings were still in effect for the northern coast of Honduras from Punta Sal westward, as well as coastal Belize and Guatemala.

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A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck off Japan’s northeastern coast Friday, triggering a tsunami advisory that was later lifted.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 2:36 p.m. (0536 GMT) and was centered slightly south of where a massive magnitude-9.0 temblor struck in March.

The agency issued a tsunami advisory, predicting waves of 20 inches (50 centimeters) along the coast of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, where a nuclear plant crippled in the March 11 quake is located. But about a half-hour later, the advisory was lifted.

There were no abnormalities in key equipment at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, said Chie Hosoda, an official with the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator. She said some of the plant’s workers assigned to the coastal side of the facility temporarily retreated inside the building.

Announcers on television urged residents in coastal areas to head for higher ground, but about a half-hour after the quake, there were no reports of a tsunami reaching Japan.

In Onagawa, about 210 miles (340 kilometers) north of Tokyo, town official Hironori Suzuki said there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. There was no visible swelling of the ocean.

“It was a rather big one, perhaps it was because we are still in a makeshift office,” Suzuki told public broadcaster NHK. Suzuki said the town has urged all residents via community broadcast to stay away from the coast and evacuate to higher ground.

In Tokyo, buildings swayed only mildly.

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Global stocks fell Wednesday in a downbeat appraisal of a Franco-German summit that failed to persuade investors that a convincing fix to the eurozone’s spiraling debt crisis was imminent.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel called for greater economic and political unity among the 17 nations that share the euro.

But they failed to take the decisive actions the markets had hoped for, including committing to common eurobonds that would spread the risk for the sovereign debt or strengthening a new bailout fund.

The market reaction showed little confidence in the announcements, which came on the heels of weak growth in Germany, Europe’s largest economy.

“There was no talk about boosting the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) and not talk about eurobonds, all rather disappointing but not altogether surprising, given the political obstacles against them,” said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets. “The biggest worry remains the lack of economic growth in Europe.”

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was 1 percent lower at 5,931 while the CAC-40 in France rose a slight 0.05 percent to 3,232. Britain’s FTSE 100 of leading British shares was down 0.72 percent at 5,318.

Wall Street was poised for a fairly subdued opening later _ Dow futures were down 0.1 percent at 11,380 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures fell an equivalent rate to 1,192.

Compared to last week, when turmoil gripped financial markets in the aftermath of Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S.’s credit rating and as Europe’s debt crisis threatened Italy and Spain, trading this week has been fairly subdued. Often, trading in the second half of August runs dry up until the U.S. return from the Labor Day weekend in early September.

In the currency markets, the most activity centered on the Swiss franc.

The Swiss franc was back in demand after the Swiss National Bank failed to peg the currency with the euro, as had been widely speculated upon in recent days. Instead, the bank decided to inject more of the Swiss currency into the money markets in its latest attempt to stem the export-sapping appreciation of the currency.

“The market was heavily anticipating something along the lines of a target or a foreign exchange floor, but ultimately the SNB simply expanded their current measures,” said Geoffrey Yu, an analyst at UBS.

By late morning London time, the euro was trading around 0.7 percent lower on the day at 1.1361 Swiss franc, while the dollar was 1.1 percent lower at 0.7873 franc.

Elsewhere, the euro was 0.3 percent firmer at $1.4427 while the dollar fell 0.3 percent to 76.55 yen.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index sank 0.6 percent to close at 9,057.26 as a strengthening yen dragged down the country’s vital export sector.

South Korea’s Kospi, which tumbled last week amid massive foreign selling, rose 0.7 percent to 1,892.67.

Mainland Chinese shares edged lower as investors fretted over possible monetary tightening measures and the debt problems among European countries using the euro common currency. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3 percent to 2,601.26 while the Shenzhen Composite Index likewise slipped 0.3 percent to 1,163.87.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.4 percent to 20,289.03, buoyed by Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang’s pledge to expand the role of Hong Kong as an offshore trading center for China’s yuan currency.

Oil prices rose further with the benchmark New York rate up $1.04 at $87.69 a barrel.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Pressure has been mounting on the Chinese government to save the badly crushed left leg of a 2-year-old girl pulled out of the wreckage of a high-speed train crash last month.

Xiang Weiyi was rescued about 21 hours after the July 23 crash near the eastern city of Wenzhou. The crash killed at least 40 people, including the girl’s parents.

The accident has prompted authorities to slow down high-speed trains.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that a team of four experts would leave Tuesday for Wenzhou to treat the child payday loan lenders.

Her uncle posted an open letter on a blog late Sunday urging the Ministry of Railways to send experts to examine her injuries and draw up the best treatment plan available.

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