US employers add 192K jobs; rate stays at 6.7 pct.

Last Update on April 04, 2014 07:29 GMT

WORLD MARKETS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Asian stock markets were little changed today after the European Central Bank refrained from further easing of monetary policy and investors looked to the upcoming U.S. jobs report for a new trading cue.

The U.S. March jobs report will be released early this morning in Washington. Many economists think it will show a bounce-back in hiring by employers who held off adding staff during winter.

A strong jobs report would boost confidence that that U.S. economic recovery is on track while also reinforcing expectations that interest rate hikes are in the pipeline after the Federal Reserve ends its bond purchasing program that has provided extraordinary monetary stimulus.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil inched up to remain above $100 a barrel. The dollar gained against the euro and was steady against the yen.

ECONOMY-THE DAY AHEAD

Business events scheduled for Friday

WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department will release its monthly jobs report today.

Economists project that employers added 191,000 workers in March, according to a survey by FactSet. That would be an improvement from February, when employers added 175,000 positions.

GRUBHUB-IPO

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors seem ready to eat up GrubHub.

The online food delivery company has raised $192.5 million in its initial public offering, more than it expected.

GrubHub priced 7.4 million shares at $26 each, up from its expected sale of 7 million shares for $23 to $25 each. That was already an increase from its projections in March and February. And the banks managing the deal could still buy another 1.1 million shares, further boosting proceeds.

GrubHub, based in Chicago, also owns the Seamless food ordering website. The company connects nearly 29,000 restaurants with users in more than 600 U.S. cities. At the end of 2013, about 3.4 million people had placed an order through GrubHub websites in the past year.

Shares are to begin trading today.

BEAZER HOMES-OUTLOOK

ATLANTA (AP) -- Beazer Homes USA Inc. says completed home sales and new orders fell sharply in the first three months of the year.

The company says new home orders fell 9 percent to 1,390 in the January-March period, while completed sales, or closings, slumped 13 percent to 977.

The Atlanta-based homebuilder, which builds homes in 16 states, attributed the weak sales trends to severe winter weather and a 6 percent decline in how many areas, or communities, it was selling homes. The drop was steepest in the West.

Higher mortgage rates, rising prices and a limited supply of homes have slowed sales across the country. Most economists expect sales to pick up as the weather warms.

CEO Allan Merrill says Beazer remains optimistic about this year's spring home-selling season, which traditionally begins in mid-February and typically sets the pattern for residential hiring and building construction for the rest of the year.

Beazer says it expects to report a profit for fiscal 2014.

US AIRWAYS-BRITISH AIRWAYS

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- US Airways is joining the venture that lets American Airlines and British Airways work together on setting prices and schedules between the U.S. and Europe.

American Airlines Group Inc. says US Airways will add 28 trans-Atlantic routes to the joint venture, including nonstop flights from the U.S. to 18 new European destinations.

Airlines involved in the venture, including Finnair and Spain's Iberia, share revenue when they sell seats on each other's flights.

American and US Airways merged in December and plan to phase out the US Airways name.

ECKO UNLTD-BANKRUPTCY FILING

NEW YORK (AP) -- The former licensee for clothing maker Ecko Unltd. is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to court filings.

MEE Apparel and Mee Direct, which sell clothing under the brand names Ecko Unltd. and Unltd., say they have about $30 million in assets and $62 million in debt. They say sales and profitability have been declining since the start of 2009 because of the recession and changes in fashion trends. They made the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Wednesday.

The Ecko Unltd. brand itself didn't file for bankruptcy, says Jennifer Hoffman, a spokeswoman for Iconix Brand Group Inc. A new Ecko licensee has already begun delivering product to retailers, she added.

Ecko Unltd., a youth-focused lifestyle brand, was founded in 1993 by Marc Ecko.

SHELL DRILL SHIP-REPORT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A Coast Guard report says poor risk assessment and management were factors that led to the grounding of a Shell oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Alaska in 2012.

The report released Thursday also says Alaska's tax laws influenced the decision to tow the Kulluk to Seattle. Royal Dutch Shell PLC believed the drill vessel would have qualified as taxable property on Jan. 1, 2013, if it was still in Alaska waters.

The Kulluk broke away from its tow vessel in late December 2012 and ran aground four days later on Sitkalidak Island, near Kodiak.

Damage to the Kulluk played a role in Shell's decision to forego Arctic offshore drilling in 2013.

The Coast Guard report says sufficient evidence exists for other authorities to consider penalties.