Business Briefs

Stocks mostly gain on mortgage deal

NEW YORK — A deal that would help prevent more mortgage foreclosures pulled Wall Street out of a slump Thursday, giving the market a mostly higher close. Democratic lawmakers reached an agreement with Citigroup on a plan to let bankruptcy judges alter home loans to prevent foreclosures. Other lenders are expected to follow suit.

Wall Street traded lower for much of the session after a profit warning from Wal-Mart intensified fears that consumers are worse off than thought. The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a modest decline while the technology-focused Nasdaq composite index rose more than 1 percent.

Senate seeks state unemployment data

COLUMBIA — The chairman of a state Senate panel that oversees the Employment Security Commission says he wants detailed information on how the agency that calculates unemployment is doing its job.

Aiken Sen. Greg Ryberg said Thursday he and 17 other Republican senators asked the Legislative Audit Council to examine how the commission manages its resources and complies with regulations.

Ryberg says he'll hold hearings once the audit is released.

Gov. Mark Sanford had refused to request a $146 million federal loan to keep the state's unemployment fund afloat because he wanted an audit by the state watchdog agency. Sanford signed the request last week, just hours before the deadline.

Rates keep sliding for US home loans

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record level for a fourth straight week, dropping to the lowest mark since financier Freddie Mac started tracking them in April 1971.

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages dropped to 5.01 percent this week, down from the previous record of 5.1 percent set last week.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.62 percent, the lowest point since June 2003. That rate was 4.83 percent last week.

Rates have been falling since November, when the Federal Reserve said it would spend up to $500 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities to buttress the housing market.

British bank's rates are at 315-year low

LONDON — The Bank of England slashed interest rates to an all-time low Thursday in an aggressive bid to shore up an economy battered by recession and the global credit crunch.

The new rate of 1.5 percent, down half a percentage point, is the lowest in the bank's 315-year history. Even during the Great Depression, rates never dipped below 2 percent, reflecting just how grave the institution's directors feel the current economic situation is.

Walgreen to cut its management staff

NEW YORK — Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. said Thursday it will cut 1,000 jobs by mid-year, or about 9 percent of corporate management, through a combination of voluntary buyouts and layoffs.

The company said the job cuts will come from corporate and field management but not store employees. The targeted workers will be able to resign or retire with severance pay and benefits based on their tenure.