Finance & Business World

Much work remains to achieve maximum U.S. employment and stable prices, and the central bank will do its part, an influential Federal Reserve official said on Friday.

The pace of the U.S. economic recovery remains “sluggish” and is likely to slow somewhat this year, New York Fed President William Dudley said in prepared remarks. Unemployment is likely to remain “unacceptably high” for some time, he added, while inflation is likely to be below the Fed’s new 2-percent objective for several years.

“Clearly, much work remains to achieve the Fed’s dual mandate of maximum sustainable employment in the context of price stability,” Dudley said in a briefing to media.

The Fed, which has kept interest rates near zero for more than three years, “has done and will continue to do its part in supporting the recovery - but it is not all-powerful,” he added.

“Other complementary policy actions in housing, fiscal policy and structural adjustment or rebalancing of the economy will be essential if we are to achieve the best available recovery free business cards.”

Besides the low rates, the Fed has also bought $2.3 trillion in long-term securities in an unprecedented drive to spur growth and revive the economy after the worst recession in decades. Yet the recovery has been slow and the outlook issued by the Fed this week was bleak, leading the central bank to say it expects to keep rates “exceptionally low” at least through late 2014.

Dudley, a permanent voter on the Fed’s policy-setting committee, added that he expects “moderate” growth this year, and warned the risks are skewed to the downside in part because of Europe’s debt crisis. The economy continues to operate with “significant excess slack,” he said.

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Wall Street is poised for further gains amid ongoing evidence of a strong start to the U.S. holiday shopping season and hopes for a plan to deal with the European debt crisis.

Dow futures are up 0.5 percent at 11,555. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures are up 0.6 percent at 1,198.

Markets overseas were boosted again on Tuesday by hopes that the 17 countries that use the euro will finally come up with a plan to deal with their crushing debt crisis.

Italy’s borrowing rates shot up Tuesday to above 7 percent, an unsustainable level on a par with rates that forced the others to seek bailouts.

The fear is that the crisis _ which already has forced bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal _ could engulf bigger economies such as Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest. If Italy were to default on its debt of euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion), the fallout could spell ruin for the euro project itself and send shock waves throughout the global economy.

Though no specific details have yet emerged of what will likely result from a Dec. 9 summit of EU leaders, the ministers are thought to be discussing ideas that would have been taboo only recently: countries ceding fiscal sovereignty to a central authority; some kind of elite group of euro nations that would guarantee one another’s loans _ but require strong fiscal discipline from anyone wanting membership.

On Tuesday, finance ministers also were likely to discuss the options _ plus a possible way to boost the region’s rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, at a meeting in Brussels easy payday loans.

On Monday, stocks advanced strongly, particularly in Europe, with the CAC-40 in France up a massive 5 percent or so.

As a result, the gains Tuesday were not as marked but did provide some further evidence of the hopes that European leaders will finally get their act together in around 10 days time.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2 percent at 5,756, while the CAC-40 fell slightly to 3013. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.1 percent higher at 5,320. The euro, meanwhile, was up 0.2 percent at $1.3309.

Earlier, most Asian markets ended higher, with the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo climbing 2.3 percent to close at 8,477.82.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.3 percent to 1,856.52 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2 percent to 18,256.20. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Australia were also higher.

Mainland Chinese shares advanced, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.2 percent to 2,412.39.

Oil prices tracked equities modestly higher _ benchmark crude for January delivery was up 49 cents to $98.70 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Seeking to protect local industry, the Brazilian government is sharply raising taxes on imported cars and trucks under a decree published Friday in the country’s Federal Register.

The measure initially announced at a news conference Thursday increases the industrialized products tax by 30 percentage points on vehicles that fail to meet rules about local content.

The new rates range from 37 percent to 55 percent, depending on a variety of factors such as vehicle and engine types. This is on top of import duties and other importing costs.

The decree has exemptions for companies that meet six of 11 new rules about local content. The rules include having at least 65 percent of their vehicles’ parts made in Mercosur countries, investing significantly in research or doing most of their assembly work in Brazil.

The measure is meant to protect Brazil’s domestic industry, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Thursday.

“We are the fifth largest vehicle market in the world and the seventh largest producer, but we might lose our position if we don’t take measures,” Mantega said in Brasilia.

The duties take effect in two months.

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Greece’s prime minister is to reshuffle his cabinet and seek a Parliamentary confidence vote in his new government as he struggles to push through an unpopular new austerity package.

George Papandreou’s reshuffle Thursday comes a day after talks with opposition parties over forming a coalition government collapsed and anti-austerity riots hit central Athens. A confidence vote is expected Sunday.

The five-year austerity bill must be passed by Parliament this month if Greece is to continue receiving funds from its euro110 billion ($157.21 billion) international bailout.

Papandreou has not indicated which Cabinet posts will change hands, but many expect him to replace his finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, who handled previous budget cuts under the bailout agreement.

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NATO warplanes struck Moammar Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli on Saturday, as the new rebel administration warned it was fast running out of money because countries that promised financial aid have not come through.

Ali Tarhouni, the rebel finance minister, complained that many countries that pledged aid have instead sent a string of businessmen looking for contracts from the oil-rich country.

“They are very vocal in terms of (offering financial) help but all that we have seen is that they are … looking for business,” Tarhouni told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Tarhouni recently returned to Benghazi, the rebel bastion, from a trip overseas to drum up aid that included a visit to Rome where the 22-nation Contract Group on Libya promised to set up a fund to speedily help finance the rebel administration.

“I think even our friends do not understand the urgency of the situation. Either they don’t understand, or they don’t care,” Tarhouni said.

Tarhouni singled out Qatar and Kuwait for their “generous, very generous help.” He did not specify the aid these countries have offered, but Qatar has sent fighter jets, airplanes full of food and medical aid as well as helping the rebels market their oil.

Tarhouni also praised France, which was the driving force behind the U.N. no-fly zone. But “other than that, everybody is just talking,” he said. “So far, nothing has come through and I am fast running out of cash.”

Tarhouni emphasized that the rebels’ National Transitional Council will be signing no long-term contracts. While the rebel administration will honor previously signed contracts, Tarhouni indicated a new democratically elected government might do otherwise.

“Right now, I am not going to sign any contract that has any consequences for the future of Libya, with the exception of what I need in terms of food, medicine, fuel,” he said.

Before the conflict, Libya, an OPEC member, produced about 1.6 million barrels per day, just under 2 percent of world production.

Meanwhile, nearly two dozen Libyan soldiers, including a colonel and other officers, fled their country in two small boats and took refuge in neighboring Tunisia, where thousands fleeing the fighting in Libya have taken refuge.

A person who met with some of them says they fled rebel-held Misrata, arriving at Ketf port, near Ben Guerdane, on the Tunisian side of the border. The person who met with them Saturday asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. The group turned over their weapons to the Tunisian Army.

The official TAP news agency said 22 military, some ranking officers, arrived Friday in boats carrying a dozen civilians, two with bullet wounds.

Three dissident officers from Moammar Gadhafi’s army reached Tunisia in a boat May 15.

Also Saturday, an alliance spokesman said NATO fighter jets struck Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli in the early hours Saturday. He said the Libyan leader was not a target and there was no way to know if he was there at the time of the attack.

The spokesman said that around noon a vehicle storage area in the same area was hit.

The strike sent a shuddering boom through Tripoli and rattled windows. Such a daylight attack is fairly unusual since NATO began its aerial attacks over Libya three months ago.

Airstrikes over the past week have pounded the large barracks area that lies close to the Gadhafi compound. The same compound was badly damaged by U.S. warplanes 25 years ago in response to a bombing that had killed two U.S. servicemen at a German disco.

Saturday’s airstrike came after leaders at a summit of the Group of Eight world powers reiterated that Gadhafi had to leave power.

Russia, a leading critic of the NATO bombing campaign and one-time Gadhafi ally offered to mediate a deal for the Libyan leader to leave the country.

Speaking at the summit in Deauville, France, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, said Friday he was sending an envoy to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi immediately to start negotiating, and that talks with the Libyan government could take place later.

National Transitional Council head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said Saturday the rebels would accept negotiations led by anyone willing to find a solution _ as long as it requires the departure of Gadhafi and his sons.

Speaking to reporters in Benghazi, Abdul-Jalil said the transition to democracy would take at most one year after Gadhafi’s removal from power. He also said the council had decided to ban all current members “from running for any positions in the transitional period following the fall of Gadhafi.”

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Energy company El Paso says it’s planning to separate into two publicly traded businesses by the end of the year.

The Houston company’s stock jumped more than 7 percent to $20.35 in pre-market trading.

The company’s board approved plans to spin off its exploration and production business. Terms were not disclosed.

After the spinoff, El Paso Corp. will include its pipeline group, its midstream group and its general and limited partner interests in El Paso Pipeline Partners LP on line pay day loans. Doug Foshee will remain chairman and CEO.

The new publicly traded exploration and production business will be led by the unit’s president, Brent Smolik, as CEO.

The separation is subject to market, regulatory and tax approvals.

Williams Cos. and Marathon Oil Corp. underwent similar separations this year.

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J.C. Penney Co. says its first-quarter net income rose nearly 7 percent because of cost-cutting and strong reception to its exclusive merchandise.

The company says it earned $64 million, or 28 cents per share, for the three months ended April 30. That compares with $60 million, or 25 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Revenue edged up to $3.94 billion from $3.93 billion. Penney’s revenue at stores open at least a year rose 3 cash advance america.8 percent. The gauge is a key indicator of a retailer’s health.

Analysts had predicted earnings of 26 cents on revenue of $3.94 billion, according to FactSet.

The company also issued profit guidance in line with analysts’ projections.

J.C. Penney is based in Plano, Texas.

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